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LETTERS 


IS  THB 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC 
CONl'ROVERSY. 

BY  W.  C.  BROWNLEE,  D.  D., 

or  THE  COLT.F.GIAT?:  r"OTESTAVT   :?F.FOKMr,D  DVTCll  CirJKC::.  xr.W  YOEK, 


"  Veritas  oiuuia  viiicit."— Ber.  Tit  3— 4t 


Second  Edition,  revised  and  enlarged. 


NEW  YORK: 

PUBLISHED    BY    THE    AUTHOR! 

PHILADELPHIA,  J.  WHETHAM  I 

HARTFORD,  D-  F.  ROBINSON, 

3834. 


:ys.^  -*  ^^;X^ 


•  Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1834,  by 

WM.    C.    BROWNLEE,    D.  D. 

In  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southren  District  of  New- York. 


BOWNE,   WISNER  &   CO.   PRINTERS. 


DEDICATION* 

TO  THE  PEOPLE, 

AND  TO  THE  MAGISTRACY,  AND  MINISTRY 

OF    THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Fellow  Citizens  : — I  come  not  before  you  as  a  sectarian :  nor  merely  as  a 
polemic.  The  subject  of  this  discussion  enlists  the  feelings  of  every  patriot.  It 
involves  not  only  the  deepest  interests  of  our  holy  religion,  but  the  very  exist- 
ence of  our  liberties,  and  the  perpetuity  of  our  Republic. 

We  come  not  before  you  to  oppose  the  Roman  catholic  religion,  merely  as  a 
rdigioji.  We  have  a  higher,  and  we  trust,  a  holier  aim.  Having  detected  in 
it,  a  lurking  enemy,  conspiring  against  religion,  and  the  essential  interests  of 
our  country,  we  have  dragged  it  forward  into  the  light ;  and  have  brought  it  up 
to  YOUR  tribunal,  for  public  judgment  in  the  case. 

In  our  pleadings  at  your  bar,  we  shall  demonstrate  that  the  Roman  catholic 
religion  is  not  found  in  the  Holy  Bible  ;  that  it  has  diverged  far,  in  its  erratic 
course,  from  primitive  and  pure  Christianity  ;  that  it  stands  now  separated  from 
it  by  a  gulph,  wide  as  that  which  separates  the  prophet  of  Arabia's  Koran 
from  the  holy  Scriptures  of  God:  and  that,  as  an  ancient  religion,  it  is,  in  fact, 
the  perpetuation  of  Greek  and  Roman  paganism, — baptised  under  a  new  no- 
menclature. 

But,  we  shall  not  rest  satisfied  with  proving  each  of  these  positions.  Impor- 
tant as  is  their  truth  to  the  christian  community,  they  cannot,  as  such,  claim 
national  attention.  But  there  is  a  point  in  this  controversy  which  does  claim 
your  attention,  as  a  nation.  For,  while  pure  apostolical  Christianity,  like  its 
Lord,  has  not  its  kingdom  of  this  world:  while  it  shrinks  from  the  unhallowed 
union  with  the  state  ;  and  seeks  no  political  aggrandisement ,  no  civil  establish- 
ment ;  no  worldly  power,  or  earthly  grandeur  ;  while  it  neither  aims  at  making  a 
tool  of  statesmen,  and  politics,  nor  permits  its  ministry  and  sacred  things  to  be- 
come the  willing  tool  of  a  carnal  policy  ;  the  Roman  catholic  system  is,  in  all 
points,  the  reverse  of  this. 

It  is,  as  we  shall  see  from  its  creed,  and  from  historical  documents,  a  system 
of  mere  human  policy  ;  altogether  of  a  foreign  origin  ;  foreign  in  its  support ; 
and  bringing  with  it,  over  the  face  of  society,  wholly  a  hostile  foreign  influence. 
Its  pope  and  priests  arc  politicians,  men  of  the  world,  and  mere  men  of  pleasure. 
It  is,  in  the  hands  of  a  singular  foreign  despotism,    precisely  what  the  Koran  is 


ir  DEDICATION. 

in  the  hands  of  the  Grand  Turk,  and  his  Mufti.  It  is  a  tremendous  weapon  of 
miscliief,  the  hilt  of  which  is  at  Rome.  It  wields  its  holiest  things  in  a  constant 
war  of  proud  domination;  not  only  uniting,  as  it  docs  always  unite,  church  and 
state  :  but  uniformly  making  an  abused  and  insulted  tool  of  nations  and  govern- 
ments, wherever  it  has  the  ascendency.  It  is  not  only  illiberal,  but  intolerant 
in  its  politics,  as  well  as  its  religious  creed*  It  has  put  forth  claims  to  tax,  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  people,  not  only  its  own  subjects,  but  even  the  citizens  of 
other  nations,  under  the  ghostly  plea  of  its  divine  right  to  tithes,  and  spiritual 
offerings  !  It  has  claimed,  as  a  temporal-spiritual  power,  not  only  to  rule  its  own 
Roman  states,  but  to  interfere  with  every  government  of  Europe,  South  Ameri- 
ca, and  Mexico.  It  has  not  only  ruled,  with  a  rod  of  iron,  its  own  spiritual 
armies  of  prelates,  priests,  monks,  and  friars,  with  their  trodden  down  victims ; 
but  it  has  interdicted  nations  ;  dethroned  kings;  dissolved  civil  governments; 
suspended  commerce;  annulled  national  laws  ;  and  paralyzed  the  authority  of 
the  magistrates.  Hence,  each  of  all  the  nations,  where  its  withering  influence, 
like  the  terrible  Simoom  of  the  desert,  has  been  felt,  has,  in  its  turn,  been 
thrown  into  the  utmost  confusion.  It  has,  from  its  very  genius  of  despotism, 
uniformly  denied  the  rights  of  the  people  to  self-government.  Wherever  it  has 
had  power  over  a  nation,  it  has  warred  against  the  freedom  of  the  press;  the 
progress  of  knowledge;  the  rights  of  conscience  ;  and  the  liberties  of  mankind  ! 
Its  one  grand  aim, — that  is  to  attain  wealth,  pleasures,  and  boundless  power, — 
it  has  '  pursued  with  a  step  as  steady  as  time,  and  with  an  appetite  as  keen  as 
death.'  To  compass  its  object,  it  has  employed  dungeons,  racks,  chains,  inqui- 
sitions; and  the  fire  and  sword  of  exterminating  persecutions  ! 

All  this,  as  we  shall  demonstrate  from  historical  documents,  it  has  done,  in 
times  past. 

We  shall  review  passing  events  to  show  that,  even  now,  it  is  in  the  very  act  of 
executing  its  deep  laid  conspiracy  against  the  institutions  and  liberty  of  our  Re- 
public— by  means  of  foreign  gold;  by  its  imported  colonies  of  vicious  and 
ignorant  men,  the  vassals  of  the  pope;  and  by  its  hosts  of  Jesuits  and  priests, — 
the  household  troops  of  his  holiness;  the  emissaries  of  the  Holy  Alliance! 

And  we  shall  draw  aside  the  mask  which  it  contrives  to  adjust  so  carefully 
over  its  visage,  in  our  country  ;  and  shall  exhibit  its  unblushing  claims  to  Infal- 
libility, AND  Immutability  ;  in  order  to  establish  the  unquestionable  fact, 
that  Romanism,  spiritual  and  political,  is  even  here,  at  this  day,  as  resolutely 
as  ever,  the  same  that  it  was  in  the  Dark  Ages;  and,  moreover,  that  it  will  ever 
remain,  in  reality,  the  same  malignant  genius  of  evil,  and  the  Lawless  One, 
until  the  holy  vision  of  St.  John  be  consummated,  at  tlie  close  of  tb.o  predes- 
tined period  of  the  1260  years  !  How  far  I  have  succeeded  in  doing  this,  you 
are  now  to  decide. 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  your  humble,  and  most  devoted  servant, 

W.  C,  BROWNLEE. 


CONTENTS. 


Dedication.  iii 

The  challenge  and  acceptance.  1 

Part  I. 

LETTER  I.  Rule  of  faith  is  the  Holy  Scriptures — The  judge  of  controversy  is 
the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  in  them — this,  our  only  tribunal  of  appeal — tradi- 
tions— the  fathers — contrast  of  the  Protestant,  with  the  Roman  catholic  rule, 
and  judge.  Their  charge  of  our  divisions — repelled — charged  on  Popery.  3 
LETTER  n.  Review  of  the  priest's  letter  i. — point  at  issue — wherein  we 
agree — and  differ — The  only,  and  infallible  rule, — no  defect,  nor  obscurity 
in  the  Bible — proofs — refutation  of  the  priest's  declamatory  invective  against 
the  infallible  rule,  and  judge.  What  is,  in  reahty,  their  rule  ?  What  is  their 
judge.  6  . 

LETTER  to  Dr.  Varela — his  separate  attack  on  the  Scriptures — refutation — 

in  answers  to  his  fourteen  queries.  12 

LETTER  n[.  Verbiage — Roscoe — priest's  besetting  infirmity — their  decep- 
tion in  the  use  of  the  word  Scriptures: — their  tribunal  of  judgment,  the  pope 
and  his  clergy — all  men  bound  on  pain  of  damnation,  to  submit  to  them! — 
farther  discussion  of  the  rule  of  faith — origin  of  the  popish  dogma  relative  to 
their  rule — Chillingworth  quoted — dissection  of  the  popish  rule,  the  1st  and 
2d  arguments — closed  with  a  review  of  the  priest's  errors,  and  mis-statements, 
in  their  Letter  ii.,  in  six  particulars.  16 

PRIEST'S  LETTER  IH.,  Extracts  from.  28 

LETTER  IV.  Rule  of  faith,  continued — the  priests  never  quote  our  definitions 
fairly — they  have,  unexpectedly,  laboured  to  convert  this  into  a  Jeistical,  in- 
stead of  papal  controversy — priests  yield  a  main  point  to  deists — external  and 
infernaZ  evidence — anecdote  illustrative  of  our  argument — the  copper  kettle— 
the  3d,  4th,   and  .5th  arguments  against  the  Romish  rule.  30 

PRIEST'S  LETTER  IV.    Extracts  from.  39 

LETTER  V.  Rule  of  faith,  continued — genius  of  popery,  its  elasticity — it  la- 
bours to  conceal  its  real  dogmas,  in  our  Republic — it  is  the  same  unchanged,  as 
in  the  darkest  ages — despotic — hostile  to  free  institutions — our  citizens  for- 
get that  the  Jesuits  claim  immutability — outlines  of  the  preceding  arguments 
— Arguments,  6th,  7th.  8th,  9th,  and  lOth,  against  the  Romish  rule.  40 

PRIEST'S  LETTER  V.    Extracts  from.  48 

DISSERTATION  on  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  51 

LETTER  VI.  The  claims  of  the  popish  rule  being  destroyed,  the  Protestant 
rule  is  without  a  rival — minute  examination  of  the  priest's  objections,  and  er- 


CONTENTS. 


j-ors — their  traditions — their  claims  truly  ludicrous — an  exposure  of  these  tra- 
ditions: their  fanaticism,  extravagance,  and  injpicty :  the  aristocracy  and  no- 
bility of  the  haughty  priests — treaiment  of  the  R.  C.  laity — genuine  priest- 
craft— the  vicious  circle,  specimen  of  it — ^Jesuitical  defence  of  their  adding  the 
apocrypha  to  the  Bible — reply  to  the  objection  against  a  ivriiten  rule,  that  the 
Hebrews  were  without  the  written  word  for  fourteen  generations — and  that 
before  Moses,  and  in  Christ's  and  the  apostles'  time,  there  was  no  written  rule. 
Reply  to  the  re])eated  objection,  that  Christ  did  not  command  the  apostles  to 
write  the  New  Testament — and  that  the  primitive  Christians  had  not  the  Scrip- 
tures in  their  vernacular.  They  confound  objective  and  subjective  infallibility, 
and  make  all  infallible  who  have  the  infallible  rule?  "Twenty  books  of  the 
Old  Testament  are  lost," — this  refuted— E])istle  of  Barnabas — "The  Arian 
Cobbler" — pope  Joan — Milner,  the  dead  lion.  55 

PRIEST'S  LETTER  VI.    Extracts  from.  63 

LETTER  VII.  Review  of  the  priest's  infidel  objections,  continued — Textual 
difficulties  removed — "the  Protestants  separate  the  Bible  from  oral  teaching" 
— this  refuted — "the  rite  of  baptism,  and  change  of  the  Sabbath  can  be  esta- 
blished only  by  tradition" — this  refuted — the  Vulgate — farther  examination 
of  this  incorrect  version — different  from  Jerome's  version — Clementine  and 
Sextine  edition  of  the  Vulgate — the  Douay  translation — the  Roman  catho- 
lic church  has,  in  fact,  no  authorized  version  of  the  Bible  in  English:— the  fa- 
ther's quoted — no  unammous  consent  of  them  on  the  popish  rule — Marcelli- 
nus — infallibility,  where  lodged — Jesuits  oppose  our  rule  by  an  argument  ta- 
ken from  secta^-ian  abuse  of  it — Intention — tendency  of  popery — deism — 
hostility  to  the  riohts  of  conscience  and  liberty.  65 

PRIEST'S  LETTER  Vll.    Extracts  from.  77 

LETTER  to  Dr.  Varela — reply  to  his  letter— St.  Ambrose,  and  saint  worship 
—St.  Augustine— Romish  conversion,  what?— image  worship— popish  doc*- 
trine  of  grace— Dr.  V.'s  false  quotation — power  to  appoint  neiv  articles  of  faith 
—seven  sacraments— ordinances— of  God— of  the  pope— reply  to  the  charge 
of  Protestant  divisions— effects  of  the  ))nest's  defective  education — specimen 
of  popish  sophisms— reply  to  the  charge  of  "falsehood,"  respecting  the  Tren- 
tine  addition  of  new  articles  of  faith.  80 

CARD,  to  the  public.  _  86 

LETTER  VIII.  Besetting  errors— A'^ulgate— no  authorized  version  in  English 
— inextricable  difficulty  from  the  contradictions  of  the  fathers— re y)ly  to  the 
charge  of  the  corruption  of  our  English  Bible — Walton  and  Selden  on  the 
Vulgate— Bellarmine  on  the  pope's  infallibility— Dr.  Curtis's  charge  of  Bible 
corruption — reply — Dr.  Card  well's  exposure  of  this^—singular  instance  of' 
blasphemy,  by  our  priests— p.  90— appeal  to  the  confederated  priests,  and  de- 
ists—^Proof  that  popery  is  a  novelty,  from  historical  dates  of  the  origin  of  the 
chief  tenets  and  rites— the  doctrines  which  have  always  been  held  by  the  true 
Church — Historical  date  of,  i.  The  pope'ssupremacy—ii.  Invocation  of  saints 
—"Mother  of  God,"  criticised— The  divine  worship  of  Mary— Specimen— 
iii.  Use  of  images— iv.  Purgatory— v.  Celibacy— vi.  vii.  Transubstantiation 
and  the  Mass— cannibalism— viii.  Abstraction  of  the  cup,  in  the  Eucharist — 
ix.  Relics — x.  The  retention  of  the  Bible  in  a  dead  language— Extracts  of  the 
fathers  on  these.  The  question  answered,  Mhere  was  your  religion  before  Lu- 
ther 1  87 
PRIEST'S  LETTER  VIII.  Extracts  from.  100 
LETTER  IX.  The  spirit  of  the  priest's  Letter  8.,  infidelity— "Mother  of  God" 
—subject  of  present  discussion  — TAe  peculiar  doctrines,  rites,  and  institutions 
of  popery,  originated  by  fanaticism,  and  sustained  by  imposture.  Carnal  repre- 
sentations of  the  Trinity — official  services  of  the  popish  saints— canonizing 
power— miracles  of  popery— -specimens— miracles  of  statues— doctrines 
settled  by  visions— the  orders  of  monks  founded  by  fanatics— also  their  rites, 
the  Mass.  ~  104 
PRIEST'S  LETTER  JX.    Extracts  from.  115 


CONTENTS.  Vn 

LETTER  X.  The  priest's  concession  about  legends— Luther — reply  to  the 
taunt  of  Protestant  miracles — the  unity  in  our  discussion— traclitions--enor- 
mous  bulk  of  the  Romi.sh  rule  of  faith — Roinish  circle  about  tradiiiuns — the 
priests  constrained  lo  admit  that  there  is  no  authorised  version  of  the  Bible — 
i.  The  exorbitant  claims  of  Rome  over  the  human  conscience — proofs,  speci- 
mens—idol worship— mother  of  God— a  Becket— money  on  his  altar— the  pa- 
pal supremacy— 4  factions  on  this — papal  claims  spiritual  and  tenj|)oral— case 
of  F.  Cooper  in  New  York  Legislature— ii.  Rome  has  lost  the  spirit  of  Christi- 
anity—proofs,  specimens— iii.  Hersystem  generates  ignorance  andproftiigacy— 
quotations  from  their  moral  writers— Jesuitism.  118 

Roman  Catholic  editorial  notice— Card  in  reply.  131,  132 

PRIEST'S  LETTER  X.    Extracts  from.  133 

LETTER  XL  The  Douay  Bible  not  sanctioned  by  the  authority  of  the  Romish 
church— exposure  of  this— the  superstitions  and  impostures  o(  ihe  Romi.<h  sect- 
reply  to  C.  Butler's  plausible  appeal— baptism  of  bells— sacerdotal  dress— Latin 
pra3^ers— superstition  of  the  31ass— prayer  to  St.  Sacrament— incense— holy 
water— charms— agnus  dei— Italian  soup— lamps,  wax  candles— abstaining 
from  meals — penance — ]X)pish  misrepresentations  of  St.  Vaiuck—ivood  of  the 
cross— Charles  X— .Duke  of  Brunswick's  fifty  reasons— supererrogation— feast 
of  the  Ass— song  to  the  Ass,  by  his  i'eWows— imposture  and  fraud  of  Romanism — 
specimens — cursing  of  vermin — Bees  adoring  the  Mass — St.  Januarius— souls 
coming  out  of  purgatory— Crabs  in  velvet— miracle  of  exorcising  a  demoniac— 
St.  Peter's  chair,  a  hoax.  134 

Priest's  card  to  Br.  B.  145 

Reply  to  this.  145 

Priests'  Letter  XL,  Extracts  from.  147 

LETTER  XII.  The  marks  of  the  R.  C.  church,— "The  church"  is  really  the 
object  of  a  papist's  faith. --proof, -claim  o[  antiquity, — refutation  of  this,— c«//to- 
liciiy, — refutation  of  this, — Romanism  agai-nst  the  christian  world,  and  that 
against  it.  149 

Card  of  Dr.  B.  to  the  public.  156 

Editorial  notice  in  the  Roman  catholic  print ;  and  part  of  Dr.  B's  letter.  157 

Dr.  B's  card  to  the  public,  in  reply.  158 

LETTER  XIII.  The   marks  of  the  church,  claimed  by  papists,  continued. — 
succession — refutation  of  this — no  succession  by  ordination,  or   holiness,  or 
^doctrine — tlie  schisms  in  the  Latin  church— atrocious  popes.  159 

The  Priests'  closing  Letter.  167 

LETTER  XIV.  and  last  to  the  Priests.  Review  of  their  Letter— the  genius 
and  spirit  of  their  controversy — Jesuitism— reply  to  their  criticism  on  the  ar- 
ticles of  faith  in  express  texts,  in  p.  146— The  gracing  of  their  retreat— in  a 
parody  on  the  king  of  Assyria,  and  his  officers — Rabshakeh's  late,  and  epi- 
taph. 

Part  II. 


168 


LETTER  I.  To  the  members  of  the  Roman  catholic  church— Introduction- 
invitation  to  the  discussion; — a  parable  of  olden  times — St.  Peter — his  com- 
panion, a  chief-priest— dialogue— the  genius  of  Popery  appears  to  them— 
the  result.  1^3 

LETTER  II.  An  appeal  to  Roman  Catholics,  on  the  necessity  of  moving  in  the 
work  of  their  emanci])ai  ion  from  priest  craft — they  are,  while  under  this  mental 
bondage  to  priests,  without  liberty — various  impostures — anecdote  of  priest 
P.,  and  a  Dominie— specimen  of  mental  slavery,  here— Carbonarian  faith  178 

LETTER  III.  The  Jesuit  rule  by  which  priests  are  guarded— genius  of  the 
revived  Jesuitism— the  4th  mark  claimed  by  the  papists— sane a'^?/ — refu- 
tation of  this.  1^ 

LETTER  IV.  This  subject  continued— celibacy  and  monachism— exhibition 
of  clerical  profligacy  according  to  the  results  of  papal  law — instructive  anec- 


Viii  CONTENTS. 

dote  of  the  Spanish  priesthood — the  pope's  Tax  Book — prices  of  sins  quoted, 
(and  Appendix).  1"' 

LETTER  V.  Earnest  appeal  to  Roman  catholics  to  vindicate  the  cause  of  lib- 
erty, and  our  country — an  appeal  on  the  value  of  religious  liberty — in  their 
morals  the  priests  fulfil  Bible  prediction. — danger  from  Jesuitism — their  mon- 
archism— specimen  of  their  doctrines,  in  our  land— papal  claims.  193 

LETTER  VI.  We  are  the  best  friends  of  Roman  catholics — the  treasonable 
doctrines  taught  here  by  Jesuits — quotations — their  immoral  doctrines— alto- 
gether pagan — their  dangerous  tendency  in  society — they  produce  the  morals 
of  Paris  and  the  reign  of  terror — the  parent  who  sends  his  children  to  their 
seminaries  is  a  traitor.  196 

LETTER  VIL  The  next  mark  claimed  by  the  papists — unity^-genume  spi- 
rit of  Romanism,  mahgnity,  caused  by  this  plea  of  unity — Refutation  of  this 
claim — Rome  a  distracted  church — proofs.  200 

LETTER  VIIL  Unity,  continued— it  is  destroyed  by  her  monkish  orders — no 
unity  in  doctrines — no  unity  in  papal  supremacy — quotations — Augustine — 
Jerome.  204 

LETTER  IX.  Popery  condemned  by  Scripture,  and  the  fathers — the  fathers 
against  papal  supremacy — Jerome  farther  quoted  on  "the  Rock" — Chrysos- 
lom — Origen — Thedore"t — Tertullian — Ambrose — Cyprian — Hilary — Grego- 
ry— Councils — Bellarmine.  208 

LETTER  X.  Popery  condemned — instances — images^condemned  by  scrip- 
ture— by  fathers — Tertulliaa,  Athanasius,  &lc.  ivorship  of  Saints — condem- 
ned by  the  Bible — by  the  fathers,  Augustine — Athanasius,  &c. — Latin 
prayers — condemned  by  the  Bible — by  Origen — Augustine,  &c.  ^  212 

LETTER  XI.  P oyer y  condemned — on  the  unanimous  consent — worship  of  the 
Virgin — condemned  by  Scripture — by  the  fathers — Epiphanius — Augus- 
tine— absolution  of  sins — infamous  dogmas  of  Rome  on  this — refuted  from 
Scripture.  217 

LETTER  XII. — The  jarring  elements  in  popery,  destroy  its  unity — it  is  at  war 
with  Scripture — and  the  fathers,  on  the  priests'  claim  of  power  to  pardon  sins, 
Augustine — Jerome — ^Chrysostom — Ambrose — pope  Gregory — Basil — 
Hilary — Cyril — Clemens  Alex. — P.  S.  Papists  are  by  a  late  decree,  allowed 
to  eat  meat  on  Saturdays.  220 

LETTER  XIII.  Popery  condemned — popery  distinct  from  the  religion  of  our 
ancient  ancestors — appeal  to  the  Roman  catholics  on  this — the  popish  dog- 
ma on  the  Rule  of  faith  is  condemned — by  the  Scriptures — by  the  fathers — 
Hilary — Basil — Tertullian — Ambrose — Cyril  of  Jer. — Cyril  of  Alex.—. 
Athanasius — Origen — Chrysostom — Jerome — Augustine.  224 

LETTER  XIV.  Popery  condemned— the  addition  of  the  apocrypha  is  condem- 
ned—internal and  external  proof  against  it— fathers  against  it— Origen— 
Athanasius — Cyril — Jerome — Cyprian — Augustine— Councils.  229 

LETTER  XV.  Popery  condeinned—apTpeaX  to  the  Irish  catholics — popery 
was  not  the  religion  of  your  primitive  ancestors— St.  Ibbar— St.  Patrick 
were  not  papists — earnest  entreaty  to  abandon  the  novelty  of  popery,  and  re- 
turn to  Christianity  ; — Transubstantiation  condemned— by  Scripture — by 
reason.  232 

LETTER  XVI.  Popery  condemned— Transubstantiation  condemned  by  the  fa- 
thers  Ireneeus — Ignatius — Gelasius — Hilary— Cyprian— Ambrose— Tertul- 
lian—Theodoret—Eusebius—Justjn  Martyr— Cyril— Clemens  Alex — Atha- 
nasius— Origen— Chrysostom— St.  Bernard— Jerome— Augustine— Also  by 
the  Liturgies  of  Chrysostom  and  Basil— of  Si.  James— St.  Mark— by  Cyril 
of  the  16th  centm-y— and  Metrophanes,  speaking  the  sentiment  of  the  Oriental 
churches— Earnest  appeal  to  all  Roman  catholics  on  this  revolting  imposture— 
P.  S.  Three  Romish  priests  converted.  237 

LETTER  XVII,  Popery  condemned—The  Mass  is  condemned— by  reason- 
by  Scripture— Old  Testament— and  New  Testament— by  the  fathers— Jerome— 
Damasus— Augustine— Bernard— the  Decretals   against  it— Pope   Gregory— 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Chrysostom — J ustin  Martyr— Clemens— Tertulllan — Lactantius — Reason  why 
the  priests  cling  to  this  im|)osture  of  the  mass — their  schemes  by  it,  caused  the 
enacting  of  the  Mortmain  law  of  England — hints  at  varii)us  kinds  of  masses.       242 
LETTEit  XVIII. — Popery  condtmned — ^Purgatory — a  cardinal's  opinion  of  its 
etficacy — its  history — origin — its  novelty — its  kind  of  torments — eight  chambers 
in  it — its  immense  revenues  to  the  priests — anecdotes — the   young  nobleman- 
Priest  Thom— auction  of  souls — revenues  from  it,  in  Spain — wholesale   rob- 
bery. 248 
LETTER  XIX. — Popery  condemned — Purgatory — condemned  by  reason,  and 
Script  ure^its  absurdities — it  exhibits  the  priests  as  cruel,  and  inhuman — con- 
demned by  the  fathers — Justin   Martyr — Lactantius — Hilary — Cyprian — Ter- 
tuUian — Gregory  Nys. — Gregory  Naz. — Basil — Ambrose — Justin  Martyr  far- 
ther,   quoted — the    Cyrils — 'Chrysostom — Athanasius — Jerome — x'\ugustine — 
Bede— Anselm— Epiphanius — Olympiodorus — the  council  of  Aix  la  Chapelle 
— the  council  of  Basil — Bellarmine  convicted  of  falsehood — remarkable  saying 
of  Archbishop  Usher.  253 
LETTER  XX.  To  the  archbishop,  and  bishops  of  the  Roman  catholic  church — 
appeal  on  the  necessity  of  a  reformation  in  their  sect — proofs — cpiotations — 
deplorable  condition  of  popish  churches — contrast  of  Protestants  and  Papists — 
priests — their  doctrines — and  vices — the  cause.  260 
LETTER  XXI.  The  Romish  church  a  perpetuated  branch  of  ajicient  paganism — 
proof — the  pagan  chapel,  and  the  popish  chapel  compared — holy  v^ater  at  the 
door  of  each— 'incense— altars — Pantheon,  now  the  house  of  all  the  Saints- — 
human  flesh  used  in  the  sacrifices  of  each — pagan  cannibals — popish  cannibals — 
vestments  of  pagan,  and   po])ish  priests — [)agan  boy  in  white,  attending  the 
priest — popish  boy,  in  a  surplice — Pix,  orbox  containing  ihe  wafer  god — pagan 
origin  of  this — processions — temple  of  the  pagan  foundling,  now  the  temple  of 
the  popish  foundling,  with  its  appendage  of  similar  miracles — priests  of  Bel- 
lona — the  R.  C.  Flagellantes — pagan  water  idolatry — popish  water  idolatry — 
the  sprinkling  of  cattle  by  pagans — the  same,  by  papists — the  pope  is  Pontifex 
Maximus— this  was  the  title  and  oihce  of  the  chief  of  paganism — hence  the 
difference  of  conversion  among  papists,  and  Christians.  264 
LETTER  XXII.  A  minute  delineation  of  high  mass  m  pon/(^co//6i/5.  268 
LETTER  XXIII.   The  idolatry  and  superstition  of  ])opery — sixfold  idolatry  in 
the  Romish  church — description  of  idolatry — it  is,  in  the  words  of  holy  writ, 
"The  Lie" — it  is  impious — irrational — saint  worship — refutation  of  the  Rom- 
ish arguments  for  it — anecdote  of  the   chief  of  the  house  of  Gordon — three 
factions  in  the  Roman  church — and  three  distinct  doctrines  in  it,  on  images- 
exhibition  of  these — refutation.  274 
LETTER  XXIV.  Idolatry  and  superstition  of  popery ,  continued — specimens — 
worship   paid  to  Thomas  a  Becket — more  honors  rendered  to   him  than  to 
Christ,  for  400  years,  in  England — in  Scotland  ])apists  addressed  the   Lord's 
prayer  to  the  saints — the  offices,  and  employment  of  the  saints — prayer  at  the 
consecration  of  images,  by  the  pope — the  rpieen  of  heaven — atrocious  idolatry 
of  her  worship— worship  of  relics — specimens — worship  of  the  wood  of  the 
cross — specimen — worship  of  the  wafer — St.  Sacrament,  an  idol  in  ])opery — 
prayers    said  to  it — the  idofatry  of  popery  exceeds,  in   immorality,   that  of 
pasaiii^m.  279 
LETTER  XXV.   On  the  internal  symptoms  of  decay,  and  final  ruin  of  popery — 
no   foundation  for  saving   faith  in  it— its  contradictions  will  hasten  its  ruin — 
specimen  of  these — as  the  mother  of  deism  and  vice,  she  must  perisli — illus- 
tration of  this — atheism  ]:)revailing  in  popish  countries.  284 
LETTER  XXVI.  Symptoms  of  decay  and  ruin,  conUnued — the  innnorality  of 
all  its  doctrines,  and   rites — this  is  working  its  downfall — popery  practically 
repeals  the  whole  of  the  ten  precepts — proof — specimens — its  tyranny  will 
work  its  fall — illustratirm.  288 
LETTER  XXV^II.  Symptoms  of  decay  andruin,  continued — contrast  of  a  false, 
with  the  true  religion — the  spirit  of  popery,  is  the  spirit  of  antichrist — popery 


X  CONTENTS. 

condemns  the  essential,  and  holiest  doctrines  .of  Christianity— pl-oof-^speci- 
men — the  Bible  itself  is  prohibited  by  The  Index — proof — the  jarring  doctrines 
in  popery,  relative  to  the  fundamental  tenet  of  popery,  the  j)apal  siij^reniacy, 
■will  work  its  fall — specimen  of  the  doctrines  of  the  four  factions  in  the  Romish 
church,  on  this  point.  _      _  292 

LETTKli  XXV' in.  Internal  symptoms  of  decay  and  ruin  in  poptry,  con- 
ti2]ued — Intention — the  application  of  this  peculiar  popish  dogma  to  the  seven 
sacraments  of  Rome — it  overturns  them  all — it  leaves  poper.y  without  a  priest, 
a  pope,  a  rite,  and  a  church — popish  hostility  to  the  progress  of  knowledge, 
and  science — curious  specimens  of  this — singular  case  of  Galileo,  and  bishop 
Virgil"— the  appropriate  remark  of  Galileo's  companion  about  the  pope,  and  his 
priests^  _      297 

LETTER  XXIX.  Symptoms  of  decay  and  ruin  in  popery,  continued — worship, 
and  use  of  relics — this  will  hasten  its  destruction,  as  light,  and  truth  dissipate 
darkness — additional  specimens  of  these  relics — ludicrous  duplicates,  and  mul- 
tiplication of  identical  things — amazing  discoveries  for  the  antiquarian — in- 
stances— unparalleled  curiosities — some  blasphemous  relics*  302 

LETTER  XXX.  Popery  essentially  despotic,  and  incompatible  icith  our  free 
institutions — minute  investigation  of  this — ])roof — scheme  of  the  Jesuits,  and 
European  despots — pojjcry  not  reformed,  nor  reformable — proof— Spanish 
poperv  at  this  day — origin,  rise,  establishment  of  papal  supremacy.  306 

LETTER.  XXXI."  Popery  essetitially  despotic,  and  incompatible  with  our  free 
institutions — The  pope's"  supremacy  is  held  by  papists,  to  be  the  essence  of 
Christianity — examination  of  this — the  real  claims  of  the  pope — te^'Poral 
POWER  claimed  by  him,  as  absolutely,  and  as  certainly  as  spiritual  power — 
proof — quotations.  310 

LETTER  XXXII.  Popery  essentially  despotic,  and  incompatible  with  our  free 
institutions,  continued — Rome  never  yet  tolerated  any  other  church,  where 
she  had  the'power — she  has  always  united  church  and  state,  so  as  to  make  a 
spiritual  tool  of  the  state — historical  illustration — her  intolerance  is,  with  her, 
a  religious  principle — her  annual  denunciation,  and  damnation  of  all  Protest- 
ants, .lews,  &c. — proof— the  Jesuitism  and  falsehood  of  Dr.  England  exposed — 
convicted  from  his  own  books — quotations  from  a  rare  book  in  reference  to  the 
Bid  I  In  Ccena  Domini — analysis  of  this  bull — the  Romish  priet^ts'  oath— the 
bishops'  oath — an  appeal  to  our  patriots  and  statesmen — instructive  warning 
in  the  words  of  the  eminent  statesman  Rucellai.  313 

LETTER  XXXIII.  The  six  grand  attributes  of  popery— \he  rise  and  character 
of  the  apocalyptic  Beast — us  impurity — "the  Man  of  Sin" — its  impiety  and 
arrogance — historical  illustratiorj  of  this — exposition  of  1  Tim.  iv.  1,  4. — 
"doctrines  of  devils" — "forbidding  to  marry"- — "  abstaining  from  meats" —        320 

LETTER  XXXIV.  The  fourth,  attribute,  treachery — proof— the  moral  tenets 
of  popery — "  no  faith  to  be  kept  with  heretics,"  is  a  dogma  of  the  Roman 
catholic  church — proof— decrees — docjrine — facts,  in  evidence — copy  of  the 
secret  oath  of  Jesuits — appalling  danger  from  them.  325 

LETTER  XXXV.  The  ffth  attribute,  77jfoZfr«7?ce— proof— quotations  from 
popes,  and  councils— popish  lands  are  the  lands  of  white  s/ares— proof— si)eci- 
mens— the  student  and  his  confessor— state  of  Italy,"  Spain,  Ireland.  329 

LETTER  XXXVI.  The  sixth  attribute  of  popery,  'Crutlty  ;— this  put  forth  in 
two  forms  of  ma.\\gnny—\he  Inquisition— Persecutioji—Dhcusf^ion  on  the  first- 
definition  of  the  Inquisitio7i—\l&  \m\or\— three  degrees  in  its  rise  and  progress- 
law  of  the  Inquisition — character  of  an  Inquisitor — picture  of  this  infernal  tri- 
bunal in  Spain— its  interior— its  tortures— by  water— fire— rack— St.  Mary— 
an  Auto  dafe — number  of  its  victims.  332 

LETTER  X'XXVU.  Popish  cri/e//?/- continued— persecution— crusades— mo- 
ral ones— sanguinary  ones— case  of  Hungary- difierence  in  the  instances  of 
Protestant  and  Popish  persecutions— Calvin  and  Servetus— Popery  makes  it  a 
duty,  by  a  regular  dogma,  to  persecute— It  does  this  in  tivo  ways  :  1.  By  "  the 
mouth  speaking  grea^  things"— her   anathemas— specimen   of  these  :— 2.  By 


CONTENTS.*  XI 

massacres — Bellarmine's  atrocious  plea  for  persecution — he  avows  persecution 
to  be  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  Holy  Mother — popes — councils,  do  the  same — 
proof — specimens — every  Roman  catholic  bishop  is  regularly  sworn  into  of- 
fice to  persecute — proof— his  oath  quoted — hence  no  R.  Catholic  has  it  in  his 
choice  to  be  hberal — if  true  to  his  oath,  and  his  religion,  he  must  persecute — 
proof.  340 

LETTER  XXXVIII.  The  ferocious  cruelty  of  the  system  of  Popery— hhtoucaX 
illustrations — the  systematic  persecutions  and  massacres  of  the  Waldenses — 
the  Albigenses — case  of  the  city  of  Beziers — Languedoc — 100,000  persons  fall, 
in  one  day,  victims  to  the  papists'  swords — butcheries  of  Moors — Jews — 
Christians  in  Spain — Bohemia — Hungary — France — Holland — Ireland — the 
the  public  rejoicings  at  Rome  by  the  pope's  orders,  on  account  of  the  massacre 
of  the  Protestants  of  France — the  medal  struck  by  the  pope,  and  paintings  got 
up,  to  commemorate  the  papal  triumphs  over  religion,  and  humanity — The  Ro- 
ish  Church  has  never  disowned,  nor  ever  apologized  for  her  former  ferocious 
persecutions — As  a  church,  she  approved  of  the  deeds  of  her  ancestors,  and 
still  approves  of  all  her  blood  shed  !  Estimate  of  the  victims  of  this  sanguina- 
ry sect — an  appeal  to  all  orders  of  christians — and  to  the  American  nation  on 
this  matter — appeal  to  the  consciences  of  the  bishops — conclusion — we  part  to 
meet  no  more,  until  we  meet  at  the  Judgment  seat  of  God— apology  for  the 
freedom,  and  warmth  of  my  address;  Card  to  the  public.  345 

THE  APPE.VDIX.  I.  The  comparative  numbers  of  Papists— and  Chris- 
tians. II.  Extracts  from  the  pope's  chancery  book.  III.  Gross  imijuriry  en- 
joined by  popes  and  councils.  IV.  Index  Expurgatorius.  V.  Form  of  a  pa- 
pist's confession.     VI.    Absolution.  351 


THE 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 


I 


THIS   ORIGIN  OF    THIS  CONTROVERSY    IS    FULLY    EXPLAINED   IN    THE    FOLLOWING 

CHALLENGE. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Truth  Teller. 

Sir: — In  the  series  of  letters  addressed  to  me  "by  a  Roman  Catholic  writer,  in  your 
columns,  I  have  been  honored  with  a  succession  of  public  challenges  to  come  out  in 
the  discussion  of  the  Roman  Catholic  tenets.  And  you  have,  in  the  frankest  and 
most  candid  manner,  offered  me  your  columns  for  my  reply. 

I  have  stated  repeatedly  to  my  friends,  and  also  in  a  letter  to  a  Roman  Catholic 
gentleman  of  my  acqu£iintance, — I  mean  Dr.  B.,  that  I  shall  not  come  out  in  reply  to 
any  anonymous  writer.    And  you  know  as  well  as  I,  that  no  man  of  honor  would  do  it. 

I  have  waited  for  several  months  to  see  some  responsible  name  appear ;  I  have 
been  hitherto  disappointed.  But,  now,  feeling  as  every  Protestant  minister  does,  that 
no  one  should  decline  a  call  given,  in  Divine  Providence,  to  defend  the  truth,  I  beg 
leave  to  make  the  following  propositions,  in  all  frankness  and  candor.  Through  you 
I  beg  respectfully  to  give  a  challenge,  in  my  turn,  to  any  one,  or  all  of  the  following 
gentlemen,  Roman  Catholic  priests,  in  our  city,  to  come  forward  and  discuss,  in  a 
series  of  letters,  alternately  with  me,  the  leading  doctrines  and  practices  which  sepa- 
rate the  Protestant  Churches  from  Rome ; — I  mean,  the  Right.  Rev.  Bishop  Dubois; 
the  very  Rev.  Dr.  Power;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Varela;  or  the  Rev.  Mr.  Levins;  or  any 
Ofther,  whom  they  will  nominate,  as  their  substitute. 

A  reply,  as  early  as  you  can  make  it  convenient,  is  requested. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 
January  28,  1833.  "^         W.  C.  Brownlee. 

The  following  letter  appeared  in  the  "Troth  Teller,"  in  reply  to  Dr.  Brownlee. 

Mr.  Editor: — ^We  accept  Dr.  Brownlee'?  ^^  Challenge."  But,  to  exch^de  all 
chance  of  introducing  equivocal  or  irrelevant  matter,  to  secure  singleness  of  view  and 
unity  of  object,  to  prevent  shift,  subterfuge,  and  cavil,  "  to  avoid  foolish  and  unlearned 
questions,  knowing  that  they  beget  strife," — 2  Tim.  ii.  23 ; — he  is  requested  to  state 
what  is  his  Rule  of  Faith,  and  who,  or  what  is  his  Judge  of  controversies  in  matters 
of  faith. 

John  Power,  V.  G.  and  Rector  of  St.  Peter's. 

Thomas  C.  Levins,  Pastor  of  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral. 

Felix  Varela,  Pastor  of  Christ's  Church. 


LETTERS 


REV.  DR.  W.  C.  BROWNLEE, 

ON    THE 

ROMAN    CATHOLIC     CONTROVERSY. 
LETTER  I. 

To  the,  Editor  of  the  Truth  Teller. 

§ir: — I  feel  indebted  to  your  politeness  in  causing  to  be  inserted  in  your  columns, 
my  call  for  a  responsible  name :  and,  through  you,  I  tender  my  respects  to  the  learned 
gentlemen  who  have  met  my  invitation. 

I  hope  we  shall  not  be  so  loug  in  settling  our  preliminaries,  as  the  tw^o  gentlemen 
■were,  who  have  commenced  their  discussion  in  Philadelphia.  At  any  rate,  it  shall 
not  be  my  fault,  if  we  are.  I  hope,  Sir,  the  learned  Priests  do  not  mean  to  throw  a 
barrier  in  the  way  to  prevent  our  discussion :  although  the  request,  or  insinuation  put 
forth  in  their  *' acceptance"  of  my  "challenge,"  does  appear  to  me  to  be  something 
which  rather  squints  that  way. 

Mr.  Editor, — I  shall  not  allow  myself  to  be  stopped  at  the  very  threshold  of  dis- 
cussion, by  any  invitation  to  settle  the  Rule  of  faith  and  the  Judge  of  controversy. 
If  we  pause  here  until  we  shall  agree  on  this  point — we  shall  stop  here  forever.  The 
Protestant  and  the  Roman  Catholic  do  not; — and  what  is  more,  they  can  never  agree 
on  this  point.  This  creates  the  abyss  which  lies  between  them :  If  they  could  agree 
on  this  point,  they  would  no  longer  stand  in  the  relation  of  Protestant  and  Papist. 

The  only  Rule  of  faith  and  fnal  Judge  of  controversy,  as  every  Protestant  believes, 
is  THE  Holy  Spirit  speaking  to  us  in  the  written  word  of  God,  the  Holt 
Scriptures  ;  containing  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  all  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament.  In  these,  God  spoke  to  the  church  in  Hebrew  and  in  Greek:  if 
there  be  any  thing  not  so  plain,  at  first  view,  as  I  wish,  I  compare  parallel  passages, 
and  evolve  the  meaning  by  all  proper  means,  under  the  guidance  of  the  fountain  of 
truth,  the  Spirit  of  God,  who  has  promised  to  "guide  us  in  all  truth." 

To  charge  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  obscurity,  or  deficiency,  is  the  same  thing  as  to 
bring  a  charge  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  No  christian  can  do  this.  The  apparent  ob- 
scurity on  the  pages  of  the  Bible,  proceeds  from  the  darkness  of  our  minds.  Hence 
the  Spirit  of  God  teaches  us  to  pray — "Open  thou  mine  eyes  that  I  may  behold 
wondrous  things  out  of  thy  law  !"  Psalms  cxix.  18.  And  shall  I  dare  to  call  that 
obscure  or  imperfect,  which  the  Spirit  of  God  gave  forth,  and  has  declared  to  be  clear 
or  **  plain  to  him  that  understandeth ;"  so  that  he  may  run  who  readeth  it  ?     Shall  I 


4  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

deire  to  add  human  traditions,  or  the  laws  of  erring  mortals,  to  that  Rule  which  God 
has  given  to  the  church,  and  pronounced  "perfect"  and  "sure"  and  "right,"  and 
"pure?"  Ps.  xix.  Shall  we  dare  add  to  God's  holy  word,  who  has  laid  this 
solemn  command  on  protestant,  pope,  and  priest, — "add  thou  not  unto  his  words,, 

LEST    HE    REPROVE  THEE    AND  THOU    BE    FOUND    A    LIAR  !"      PrOV.  XXX.  6.      Will  any 

priest  or  layman,  dare  add  to  that  Holy  Book  which  the  Holy  Spirit  has  made  perfect, 
closed  up,  and  sealed  with  a  tremendous  malediction  on  the  mortal  who  shall  "arfi  to 
it  or  take  away  from  it.^^     Rev.  xxii.  18, 19. 

I  can  appeal,  in  controversy,  to  no  tribunal  but  to  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost  speak- 
ing IN  the  SACRED  ScRiPTURES  ; — who  has  expressly  enjoined  on  us  this  command, 
Isaiah  viii.  19,  20.  "Should  not  a  people  seek  to  their  God?  for  the  living  to  the 
dead?  to  the  law,  and  to  the  testimony,  if  we  speak  not  according  to 

THIS    WORD,    IT    IS    BECAUSE    THERE    IS    NO    LIGHT    IN    THEM."       The   Bible    COUtaillS 

the  whole  religion  of  the  Protestant.  But  if  a  mortal  man  has  a  right  to  rdd  to  God's 
word,  then  why  may  he  not  also  alter  and  new  model  it?  But  the  man,  be  he  Pope, 
Priest,  or  Protestant,  who  ventures  to  do  this,  does  actually  usurp  the  throne  of  God: 
"  he  sits  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God !"  He  sits  m  judgment 
on  his  Maker ;  he  calls  him  up  to  his  bar,  and  dictates  to  God !  If  this  be  not  the  con- 
gummation  of  blasphemous  daring,  I  profess  I  know  not  what  can  be ! 

As  for  Romish  traditions  and  oral  laivs,  we  shall  treat  them  with  the  same  respect 
as  we  do  the  Koran  of  Mohammed,  until  the  evidence  of  their  divinity  be  produced, 
and  established  by  prophecy,  tongues,  and  miracles :  and  the  fact  be  confinned  that 
God  gave  them  to  the  Chnrch  of  Christ  for  a  Ride. 

As  for  the  fathers  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,  I  wall  receive  their  pages  %vith 
profound  veneration,  and  sit  at  their  feet,  as  the  expositors  of  truth,  as  soon  as  the  Ca- 
tholic Church  of  Rome  shall  produce  a  genuine  copy  of  them  as  the  fathers  wrote,  and 
left,  their  t^entiments : — namely  an  editio  expurgata,  free  of  the  scandalous  alterations, 
and  coiTuptions  made  in  them,  by  the  monks  of  the  dark  ages ! 

For  the  Pope,  and  "  Holy  Mother  Church,"  I  shall  yield  myself  a  dutiful  son  and 
throw  mj-self  at  his  holiness'  feet,  as  soon  as  he  shall  produce,  before  the  Christian 
world,  a  few  genuine  and  authentic  credentials,  from  the  court  of  heaven;  confiimed 
infallibly  by  the  miraculous  gifts  of  tongues,  prophecy,  and  miracles — as  the  holy 
Apostles  did  —that  God  Almighty  has  really  constituted  him  the  legal  deposit  of  truth : 
the  fountain  of  immaculate  purity,  and  the  accredited  expounder  of  the  Holy  Bible; 
to  create  mental  light,  and  with  his  keys  to  lock  up  in  darkness  the  heretical  mind ;  and 
be  the  final  judge  of  controversy.  The  world  has  become  too  enlightened  to  give  cre- 
dit to  the  fanatic,  or  knave  who  sets  himself  up  for  the  "standard"  of  truth,  or  as  one 
who  is  admitted  into  the  secrets  of  Heaven,  and  the  cabinet  minister  of  the  court  of  the 
Almighty.  Nay,  so  unruly  has  the  human  mind  become,  in  consequence  of  its  burst- 
ing the  chains  of  darkness,  and  emancipating  itself  from  the  ghostl}"-  power  and  super- 
stition of  the  dark  ages,  that  it  not  only  venluers  to  call  a  man  a  fanatic,  but  gravely 
to  propose  a  place  in  bedlam,  for  the  man  who  would  enact  the  scenes  of  former  days ; 
who  would  constitute  himself  the  fnal  judge  of  controversy,  set  up  claims  over  God's 
own  word ;  pass  gag  laws  against  the  freedom  of  speech  and  the  press ;  or  forge  chains 
for  the  human  conscience,  and  prevent  the  progress  of  glorious  liberty ! 

This  is  protestantism.  On  the  contrary  eveiy  body  knows  that  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  rejects  these  opinions  of  Protestants  with  disgust.  They  deny,  indignantly, 
that  the  written  word  of  God,  or,  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  in  the  scriptures,  either  is, 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  9 

or  can  be  the  Rule  of  faith,  or  Judge  of  controversy.  What  we  call  God  speakmg  in 
the  scriptures,  they  venture  to  pronounce  a  thing  obscure,  powerless,  and  utterly  unfit 
to  be  a  Rule  or  Judge.  What  we  call  the  voice  of  God  speaking  in  the  Holy  Word, 
has  no  authority,  no  power,  with  them, — no  binding  obligations  on  the  conscience ; — 
until  the  Pope,  or  the  Holy  Church  shall  pronounce  it  to  be  the  word,  and  give  it  vita- 
Kty  and  authority !  By  their  creed,  even  Almighty  God  cannot  speak  through  his  own 
word,  with  either  intelligence,  or  authority,  until  the  Pope  shall  bid  it  have  intelligence 
and  authority !  He — not  God — is  the  "  living  speaking  Oracle,"  of  truth ;  he,  not  God, 
is  the  "only  final  Judge  of  controversy !" 

Hence  it  is  morally  impossible  that  the  Protestant  and  the  Roman  CathoUc  can  ever 
agree  on  this  point. 

The  priests  aflect  to  believe  that  the  absence  and  want  of  their  living,  speaking  orot- 
cle  in  our  system,  has  originated  the  various  divisions  and  sects  among  Protestants. 
And  this  has  afforded  a  rich  harvest  of  materials  for  our  good  humored  opponent's  elo- 
quence. Every  body  has  heard  of  Dr.  Power's  stereotype  sermon  on  Unity,  Catholi- 
city, infallibility,  and  the  endless  divisions  of  the  heretics. 

The  priests  have  been  rather  unfortunate  in  selecting  this  topic  for  their  declamations 
against  the  Chrislian  world.  For,  it  is  known  to  every  one  that  there  is  scarcely  even 
one  erroneous  sect,  or  heretic,  in  ancient  or  modern  times,  which  has  not  sprung  up  in 
the  bosom  of  "Mother  Church!"  But,  then,  the  Holy  Inquisition  and  the  bishops 
have  carefully  and  assiduously  sought  them  out,  and  made  glorious  bonfires  of  them! 
Yes,  every  returning  year,  at  that  Romish /eizsf  of  charity  called  an  auto  da  fe,  did 
Holy  Mother  turn  all  these  sectarians  into  the  fire,  and  burn  them  as  did  the  votaries  erf 
Moloch,  in  sacrifice  to  the  genius  of  their  idolatry  ! 

Now,  did  the  Protestants  imitate  the  example  of  the  Romish  Church  in  the  horrid 
festivals  of  her  ghostly  despotism ;  and  did  the  strongest  party  in  the  land,  annually, 
doom  to  the  dungeon  and  the  flames,  all  the  weaker  sects, — then  assuredly  tliere  would 
soon  be  as  much  terrific  unity  among  Protestants,  as  there  is  in  Spain  and  Italy! 

But,  in  the  United  States,  in  our  happy  Republic,  there  is  no  State  religion, — and  no 
union  of  Church  and  State,  as  in  all  Roman  Catholic  goyernments.  Hence  tlie  lovely 
picture  of  Protestant  mildness,  charity,  liberality,  and  mutual  forbearance ! 

But,  after  all,  it  is  a  pleasant  piece  of  humor,  to  hear  the  Roman  Catholic  priests 
ridiculing  the  divisions  and  various  sects  of  the  Protestants;  while  they  laud  "the 
unity  of  Holy  Mother  Church,  created  and  cemented  by  their  living,  speaking  Oracle  J" 
What!  This  coming  from  the  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Churcli ; — a  church 
containing,  in  her  bosom,  more  divisions  and  sects,  than  all  tliose  of  I'rotestants !  A 
church  rent  and  torn  by  divisions  of  the  most  untractsble  and  iiTCconcilable  kind! — , 
Ask  you  for  proof? 

Witness  ihe  feuds  in  thai,  day,  wlien  three  rival  popes  were  muuinlly  putting  the 
pontifical  ban  on  each  other!  Witness  the  divisions  and  horrid  seen  's  of  conflict  in 
the  l)osom  of  Holy  Mother  in  the  great  Western  Schism,  which  every  Roman  Catho- 
lic historian  details!  Witness  the  divisions,  in  doctrines,  caused  by  the  Augustines, 
conflic'iug  with  other  sc's!  Witness  the  violent  feuds  between  the  iansenists  and 
the  Jesuits!  Witness  the  divisions  caused  by  the  Dominicans,  ^o  !';uno us  for  their 
zeal  in  burning  better  and  more  virtuous  men  than  themselves!  Wiiii  -s  the  ditierent 
sect^ofgray  fiiars,  and  white,  and  black;  and  the  mendicants!  Witness  the  exaspe 
rating  feuds  between  the  Franciscans  and  the  Dominicans,  touclniig  ihe  immaculate 
conctjjtion  of  the   Virgin  Mary: — the  ((»rmcr,  stoutly  maintainijig  that  ;  he  was  con^ 

2  * 


ft  ROMAN   CATHOLIC   CONTROVERST. 

ceived  by  her  mother,  as  pure  and  innocent  as  Jesus  Christ  was ;  and  the  latter  sect, 
with  no  less  than  Sai?it  Bernard  at  their  head,  insisting  that  this  sentiment  was  a  dam- 
nable heresy !  Witness  the  eternal  wars  in  the  bosom  of  Holy  Mother,  between  tlies© 
unnatural  and  turbulent  sons,  the  Scotists,  and  the  Thomists !  Witness  the  characte- 
ristic feuds  and  brawls  of  the  Jesuits,  the  Benedictines  and  Dominicans.  Witness 
the  six  grand  heads  of  controversy  in  the  sixteenth  century,  which  rent  the  Holy 
Church  in  pieces;  and  which  are  familiar  to  every  Roman  Catholic  student  of  their 
own  histories !  The  fierce  and  indomitable  Jesuits  were  pitied  against  the  Jansenists, 
Dominicans,  and  Augustines.  Sometimes  the  Jesuits  and  Dominicans  were  pitted 
against  each  other,  as,  for  instance,  on  the  doctrines  of  grace :  At  other  times,  the  Je- 
suits and  Dominicans  united  on  the  ejjicacy  of  the  sacraments,  in  opposing  all  other 
sects!     See  Dr.  Courra3^er's  translation  of  Paul  Sarpi's  Council  of  Trent. 

Witness  the  violent  conflict  between  the  Franciscans  and  the  Pope,  John  XXH.,  in 
the  14th  century !  and  the  fierce  contest  between  the  Jesuits,  on  the  one  side,  and  tho 
Augustine  doctors,  and  the  university  of  Louvain,  and  of  Douay,  on  the  other*  Wit- 
ness the  long  and  furious  controversy  between  the  Molinists  of  Spain,  with  the  Augus- 
tines and  Thomists,  and  which  set  at  defiance  Pope  Clement  VIH.,  and  all  bis  influ- 
ence, for  a  long  season ! 

In  fine,  I  know  scarcel}'-  a  single  century  of  Holy  Mother's  history,  when  the 
bosom  of  her  Unity  was  not  a  frightful  arena  of  fierce  contending  priests,  whom  no 
power  on  earth,  fallible  or  infallible,  could  compose,  till  they  had  exhausted  their 
mutual  fury !  See  the  pages  of  Nicholas  Dc  Clemangis ;  Wessel  of  Groningen ;  Ca»- 
sauder,  Rayner,  and  Ferns,  Cap.  8.  Judic. 

As  for  Unity, — there  was  Unity,  Mr.  Editor, — most  striking  U7iity,  in  Holy  Mother. 
There  was  unity  in  opposing  the  Spirit  of  God  speaking  in  the  scriptures.  There  was 
unity  in  adoring  images,  relics,  and  the  saints.  There  was  unity  in  declaring  for 
seven  Romish  sacraments  instead  of  the  bible's  two.  There  was  unity  in  the  belief 
and  projit  of  purgatory.  There  was  unity  in  believing  that  the  Pope  has  the  keys  of 
Heaven ;  and  that  he  and  the  priests  will  allow  no  heretic  to  pass  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  There  is  perfect  imity  in  Mother  Church,  in  denying  the  necessity  of  re- 
generation and  a  new  heart,  by  the  Holy  Ghost;  there  is  unity  in  denying  that  Christ 
tinished  his  atonement  on  the  cross — -unity  in  offering  him  up,  afresh,  for  the  sins  of 
the  quick  and  the  dead,  in  the  unbloody  sacrifice  of  the  Mass!  There  is  unity  in  de- 
nying justification  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  alone !  There  is  unity  in  believing 
that  Christ  is  not  the  only  mediator,  that  the  holy  virgin  is  mediatrix ;  and  "  jure  ma- 
tris  juhet  filio ;''  by  "the  rights  of  a  mother,  commands  her  Son"  to  hear  us.  See  tba 
Rosary  and  Missal;  and  Bonavent,  Cor.  B.  M.  Virg.— Tom.  6.  Rom.  Edit,  of  1588; 
Psalter  of  the  Virgin,  p.  84.  Argent  Edit. 

This  is  a  specimen  of  the  only  unity  which  characterizes  the  Holy  Mother,  and 
which  your  "living  and  speaking  oracle"  promotes! 

Besides,  Sir, — "  Ego  et  Rex," — I  and  the  learned  priests  have,  already,  tried  otrr 
mutual  strength  on  the  floor,  in  oral  debate.  And  we  got  along,  in  perfect  good 
humor,  and  quite  as  successfully  as  one  could  have  anticipated,  without  stopping  to 
settle  the  point  ahout  the  Rule  and  Judge.  Each  one  took  his  own  way;  as  I  now  re- 
spectfully propose  to  do;  and  went  straight  forward,  like  honest  men,  and  skilful  con^ 
troversalists.  I  mean,  therefore,  Mr.  Editor,  with  your  leave,  soon  to  pass  on  to  one 
great  and  vital  point, — say,  the  Chdrch. 

I  am,  Sir,  your  most  ob't  and  humble  servant, 

W.  C.  Brownlek. 


BOMAN    CATHOLIC  CONTROVEKST.  # 

LETTER  II. 

TO    DOCTORS   POWER,  VARELA,  AND    LEVINS. 

On  the  Rule  of  Faith. 

Gentlemen  : — You  begin  your  letter  with  an  expression  of  amazement  at  my 
"chivalrous"  daring  in  "challenging  prelate  and  priest,"  to  this  discussion.  The 
chivalry  of  "the  lion  hearted  Richard"  himself,  excites  less  amazement  than  this 
venturous  daring  of  mine,  to  challenge  four  man  led  and  shielded  by  "infallibility" 
itself!  And  all  of  them,  moreover,  sharing  in  the  blessings  of  the  same  "infallibility !" 
But  you  forget  the  feelings  of  a  protestant.  In  his  estimation,  "prelate  and  priest" 
are  official  creatures  of  mere  human  fiction, — and  quite  harmless  among  "  lion  heart- 
ed" republicans.  And  the  ghostly  claims  of  "infallibles,"  sound  in  his  ears  like  the 
bravadoes  of  the  antiquated  heroes  of  Otranto! 

The  fact  is,  and  you  know  it,  gentlemen,  I  was  driven  into  this  controversy  by  your 
own  partisans.  And,  therefore,  my  claims  are  loo  humble,  in  this  matter,  to  be  deco- 
rated with  the  honors  of  "chivalry."  I  return  them,  v/ith  all  humiUty,  to  their  right- 
ful owners. 

You  have  utterly  mistaken  my  meaning  as  to  "  the  settling"  of  the  point  of  the  Rule 
and  Judge  of  truth.  I  simply  alledged  that  there  could  be  no  use  in  stopping  at  the 
threshold  of  the  debate,  until  we, — that  is,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  should  come 
together  on  this  point.  For  the  truth  is,  we  never  can  "settle  it"  in  this  sense.  This 
creates  the  abyss  which  lies  between  us.  My  only  object  in  those  remarks,  was  to 
make  sure  the  continuance  of  our  discussion. 

That  the  question  touching  "  the  Rule"  was  of  small  moment,  was  no  statement  of 
mine.  I  deem  it  of  infinite  importance.  I  have  not  decHned  the  discussion  of  it. 
Nay,  gentlemen,  pardon  me,  I  have  discussed  it, — though  briefly,  in  my  first  letter: 
yes,  and  settled  it  too,  in  the  only  sense,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  in  which  we  can  settle 
it.  That  is,  I  have  distinctly  laid  down  the  Protestant  Rule,  and  shown  out  of  the 
Holy  Bible,  that  it  is  the  Holtj  Spirit  speaking  to  us  in  the  written  word.  And  I  have 
also  staled,  fairly,  your  Rule,  namely, — the  scriptures,  the  apocrypha,  and  oral  tradi- 
tions, exi)lained  by  a  living,  infallible  oracle.  This  was,  as  I  did  conceive,  going  as 
far  as  we  ought  to  go  at  the  entrance  of  our  discussion.  I  was  wiUing  to  take  it  up  in 
its  proper  place  if  you  pleased.  And,  I  did  really  suppose  that  you  would,  yourselves, 
have  preferrcHi  the  discussion  of  it,  after  we  had  discussed  the  subject  of  the  "infallible 
Church."  It  was  nsLtmal,  first  to  seek  out  this  said  ''infallible  church,"  and,  llien,  to 
seek  out,  in  her,  this  said  "  infallible  Rule  and  Judge."  And,  gentlemen,  are  you  not 
aware  that  this  is  the  order,  which  was  pursued  by  your  "  infallible  council  of  Trent  ?" 
[See  Sess.  3  and  4.] 

But  I  am  not  tenacious  :  I  yield  to  courtesy  :  qua  via  ducit  sequar.  Since  you  in- 
sist on  it,  that  the  Rule  shall  be  discussed  fust,  even  so  be  it:  only  let  none  of  us  pro- 
pose a  retreat. 

The  point  fairiy  at  issue  between  the  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  churches  on 
the  Rule  of  Faith  and  Judge  of  Controversy,  is  {\ns:—Both  of  us,  in  the  first  place, 
admit  that  there  is  an  infallible  rule  of  faith,  established  hy  Christ,  to  guide  us  in  mat- 
ters of  faith,  and  decisions  of  controversy,  in  religion.  But,  in  the  eecoud  place,  we 
differ,  ioto  ccclo,  as  to  what  that  Rule  is. 


8  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

First : — The  Protestant  Church  declares  that  the  only  Rule  of  faith  and  Judge  of 
controversy,  is  the  Holy  Spirit  teaching  us  in  tht  ivritten  word  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  every  thing  necessary  to  be  known  and  believed,  in  order  to  glorify  God 
and  enjoy  him  for  ever. 

Second: — The  R.  Catholic  Church  believes  that  the  only  Rule  is  the  scriptures  in 
the  old  Latin,  or  Vulgate  translation,  07ily,  together  with  the  Apocrypha,  and  oral  tra- 
ditons :  and  all  these  are  to  be  infallibly  explained  by  a  living,  speaking,  infallible 
oracle  and  judge;  who  is,  1st,  according  to  one  sect  in  Holy  Mother,  the  Pope:  2d, 
by  another  sect,  a  Council :  3d,  by  another  sect,  the  Pope  and  Council :  4th,  by  another 
eect,  the  Holy  Mother  Church, — meaning  the  Pope  and  his  clergy.  Such  is  the  dis- 
cordance of  senliments,  in  the  very  bosom  of  '■''unity  and  infallibility,^^  touching  thi^ 
vitally  essential  point,  namely,  *'the  infallible  Judge!"  And  this,  by  the  way,  ex- 
plains the  phenomena,  in  the  mode  of  pursuing  their  argument,  both  by  my  opponents 
and  by  Mr.  Hughes'.  They  make  a  vaporing  demonstration,  and  a  threatening  air  of 
assault  upon  "the  poor  offending  Bible,"  the  Protestant's  Rule,  in  order  to  hide  the 
weakness  of  their  own  system.  They  labor  to  raise  a  cloud  of  smoke  and  dust,  around 
the  truth,  and  then  to  escape  in  the  dark. 

Here  we  have,  at  one  view,  the  two  great  dividing  sentiments.  Protestants,  with 
humble  veneration,  receive  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  in  the  written  word,  as  their  only 
Rule  and  Judge  ;  and  they  know,  and  are  sure,  that  he  speaks  to  them  as  plainly,  and 
intelligibly,  as  a  beloved  father  does,  in  a  letter  to  his  dear  child, — choosing  to  express 
his  will  in  the  plainest  and  simplest  terms.  On  the  contrary,  the  Romish  Church's 
Rule  is  the  Pope,  or  Council,  or  both,  or  Holy  Mother.  They  are  not  agreed  here. 
But  they  are  agreed  in  this,  that  it  shall  not  be  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  the  scrip- 
tures; and  that  he  shall  have  a  rival,  and  opponent  in  his  own  house!  And  now, 
let  the  christian  public  decide  whether  we,  as  rational  beings,  shall  listen  to  God  our 
Maker,  speaking  to  us,  or  to  an  "infallible  Judge,"  composed  of  one  or  more  fallible 
human  beings  !  And  these,  moreover,  not  very  holy,  nor  very  virtuous  men !  Nay, 
they  are  men  of  the  most  presumptuous  arrogance,  and  pontifical  pride !  Did  men 
reason  and  draw  their  information  from  the  pure  fountain  of  truth,  and  not  believe, 
eimply,  by  proxy,  this  controversy  might  be  settled  in  a  fev^  minutes.  Let  us  examine 
each  of  these  in  their  order : — 

1.  The  Protestant  Rule  and  Judge.  Suppose  I  say  to  Dr.  Power,  here  is  a  point 
to  be  settled;  who  shall  tell  us  what  this  Rule  is?  To  whom  shall  we  go?  Shall  I 
go  with  you  to  your  "infallible  Rule?"  Or  will  you  go  with  me  to  the  holy  scrip- 
tures, and  hear  the  Spirit  of  God  speaking  infallibly  to  us  ?  We  cannot  go  to  your 
^^  infallible  RuleJ"  This  is  the  very  subject  of  enquiry  ;  you  have  not  yet  found  this 
infallible  rule  ;  this  is  the  point  in  debate.  We  can  go  to  the  holy  scriptures  :  you 
admit  their  authenticity  and  inspiration.  If  you  do  not,  you  are  deists.  I  repeat  it, 
gentlemen,  if  you  question  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  you  are  Deists  !  If 
you  place  yourselves  by  Paine  and  Hume,  then  I  am  prepared  to  meet  you  with  argu- 
ments on  the  external  and  internal  evidence  of  the  scripture's  inspiration.  This,  how- 
ever, would  be  a  shifting  of  the  ground. 

But  if  you  admit  their  divine  inspiration  as  the  Council  of  Trent  does, — then  here 
we  have  found  the  infallible  Rule.  For  the  same  evidence  which  establishes  their  di- 
vine inspiration,  does  also  establish  their  infallibility.  God,  speaking  to  us,  speaks 
infallibly  the  truth.  Now,  we  have  1st,  only  to  open  their  pages  and  listen,  with  pro- 
found reverence,  to  God  speaking  to  us.   Psalm  xix.     Here  the  law  of  God  is  declared 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  » 

to  be  "  perfect ;"  it  is  "  true ;"  it  is  "  right ;"  it  is  "  pure."  Isaiah  viii.  19,  20.  "  Should 
not  a  people  seek  unto  tlieir  God  ?  for  the  Uving  unto  the  dead  ?  To  the  law  and  to 
the  testimony,  if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light 
in  them."  Here  those  are  reproved  as  going  away  from  God,  even  going  "to  the 
dead."  on  behalf  of  the  living,  who  go  to  any  human  bar  or  judge,  for  the  rule  of  truth. 
Again,  Prov.  xxx.  6.  *'  Add  thou  not  unto  his  word*,  lest  he  reprove  thee,  and  thou 
be  found  a  liar .'"  2  Tim.  iii.  16.  "  All  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God  and 
is  profitable,  &c.,  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroui^hl ij  furnished  unto  all 
good  works."  Here  "the  perfect"  word  of  the  Lord  makes  the  man  of  God  perfect, 
and  thoroughly  furnished  to  all  good  works.  No  language  can  more  plainly  declare 
this  rule  and  judge  infallible.  And,  finally,  read  in  Rev.  xxii.  18, 19,  the  tremendous 
maledictions  of  Almighty  God,  on  all  those  who  "  add  to,"  and  who  "  take  away 
from"  God's  written  word  ! 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  will  of  God  most  plainly  spoken.  Obscurity,  weakness, 
and  inefficacy,  are  not  in  the  word  of  God.  Who  will  challenge  the  Almighty  and 
say  to  him,  thou  speakest  obscurely,  and  weakly,  and  inefficiently  ?  Who  will  ven- 
ture to  utter  such  blasphemy  before  the  christian  public  ?  If  you  think  it,  speak  it 
out.  We  challenge  you  to  come  out  against  the  Bible  :  call  it  imperfect :  call  it  a 
failure.  Set  up  the  Pope  against  God.  Bring  out  your  accusations  against  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Tell  the  public  that  it  is  the  Pope  or  his  clergy,  and  not  God's  blessed  word, 
diat  "converts,"  that  makes  us  "perfect,"  that  "  furnishes  thoroughly  to  all  good 
■works  I"  I  know  you  say  this  in  your  books  :  this  is  the  very  basis  of  your  argument 
when  you  go  to  establish  your  living  infallible  judge  ! 

2.  The  Holy  Scriptures  are  God's  law ;  and  our  Lord's  last  will  and  tzstament, 
Koi'fr?  AiaQriKTi.  Now,  what  shail  be  done  to  a  man  who  forges  a  new  law,  and  foists 
it  into  the  code  ?  What  shall  be  done  to  the  man  who  forges,  adds  to,  or  alters  a  man's 
last  will  and  testament,  to  promote  his  own  ends  ?  What  '•'■  sorer  piinishmtnt"  awaits 
the  man,  council,  or  pope,  who  with  fearful  daring,  under  the  very  eye  of  the  Almighty, 
adds  to,  forges,  and  alters  God's  law  ;  and  our  Lord's  last  will  and  testament  .' 

3.  I  shall  lay  before  you,  the  following  chain  of  reasons  and  maxims.  God  is  the 
only  lord  of  the  conscience.  Will  any  man  deny  this,  and  put  his  conscience  in  the 
keeping  of  pope  or  priest,  who  will,  any  day,  pledge  himself,  in  a  manner  similar  to 
those  spirital  trafficers  who  absolved  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  .'  They  were,  by  a 
•olemn  bargain,  "to  be  damned  in  the  old  Duke's  stead,  if  he  happened  to  be  damned 
for  becoming  a  Roman  Catholic  P^  Again,  God  alone  can  dictate  to  the  conscience, 
and  prescribe  our  creed  and  true  form  of  worship.  If  the  proudest  pope  who  ever  set 
foot  on  neck  of  king  or  emperor,  should  rise  up  and  dictate  these,  he  would  seal  his 
fate  as  "that  man  of  sin,  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God,"  aflfectlng  to  do  God's  work,  by 
a  shocking  usurpation  !  Besides,  God  only  can  make  known  his  will.  He  em]jloyed 
rational  instruments  to  deliver  his  messages.  God  never  required  belief  m?j7/*om<  ew- 
dence.  He  always  vouchsafed  sufficient  evidence,  when  he  sent  a  prophet  or  apostle : 
that  evidence  was  exhibited  by  miracles,  prophecies,  and  tongues.  WTien  any  pre- 
sented claims  to  inspiration,  or  to  give  an  infallible  rule,  the  church,  by  her  Lord's 
command,  required  the  necessary  evidence.  Try  the  spirits,  whether  they  be  of  God. 
The  church  still,  must  have  recourse  to  the  same  mode  of  trying  those  who  pretend 
to  divine  claims.  If  we  believe  without  evidence,  we  yield  ourselves  a  prey  to  im- 
posture. If  any  society  of  men  now  claims  to  be  infallible,  then  they  have,  from 
God,  the  usual  evidence  of  miracles,  prophecy,  and  tongues.   If  they  want  these,  they 


10  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

are  knaves  and  impostors.  "  Holy  Mother"  has  actually  set  up  these  claims  :  she 
diliberately  says  that  God  speaking  in  the  scriptures  neither  is,  nor  can  be  the  infalli- 
ble rule  :  hut  she  herself  is  it.  This  claim  she  sets  up,  without  producing  any  of  the  ne- 
cessary evidence.  Hence,  if  there  be  truth  in  the  Bible,  she  does  act  the  knave  and 
impostor !     And,  of  course,  you  know  whence  she  got  her  commission  to  do  so. 

I  shall  devote  the  rest  of  this  letter  to  examine  your  invective  against  the  infallible 
Rule  of  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  the  inspired  ivritings.  Every  error  and  heresy 
has  its  weak  side.  Your  reasoning  betrays  this  palpably.  The  radical  error,  gentle- 
men, in  your  argument  is  this  :  you  mistake  the  nature  of  the  evidence  by  which  this 
point  is  to  be  established.  You  say  the  Bible  cannot  prove  its  own  authenticity  :  and, 
therefore,  it  cannot  be  the  Rule  of  faith.  This  is  an  instance  of  that  crafty  logic, 
called  shifting  the  question,  when  it  cannot  be  met !  The  force  of  your  argument  is 
this — because  a  thing  does  not  perform  that  which  it  was  not  designed  to  do,  therefore,  it 
is  7iotfit  for  the  thing  for  which  God  made  it  t  No  book  proves  its  own  authenticity  ; 
we  seek  not  on  the  pages  of  the  Bible  for  the  proof  of  its  authenticity.  Internal  evi- 
dence, you  ought  to  know,  is  not  external  evidence.  We  prove  the  Bible's  authenti- 
city by  the  evidence  of  anti(]uity.  The  Jews  give  their  testimony  to  the  Hebrew  Bible's 
authenticity ;  the  primitive  christians  of  the  JValdenses  and  Albigenses,  who  have  an 
unbroken  succession  of  pastors  from  the  apostolic  times,  give  their  testimony  to  it,  by 
the  tradition  of  the  apostolic  evidence  :  the  many  tribes  of  heretics  and  schismatics  do 
give  their  historical  testimony  to  the  genuine  and  authentic  books  of  the  Bible  :  the 
Romish  Church  gives  its  testimony  to  it  historically.  Thus  friends  and  foes  unite  in 
their  historical  testimony.  We  liave,  moreover,  the  evidence  of  miracles  testified  to, 
the  evidence  of  prophecy  in  these  books,  fulfilled,  and  now  fulfilling.  Thus,  we  prove 
the  authenticity  of  the  scriptures  by  trternal  evidence  ;  and,  finally,  by  internal  evi- 
dence.   See  Home's  Introduction,  vol.  1.,  and  other  works  on  the  carion  of  Scripture. 

And  this  evidence  being  complete,the  perfect  e\'idence  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible 
is  the  perfect  evidence  of  its  being  the  only  infallible  Rule  of  faith. 

I  pray  you,  gentlemen,  try  your  objections  against  our  Rule,  with  a  deist,  and  you 
will  see  your  radical  mistake.  A  deist,  says — "  Dr.  Power,  I  am  glad  to  see  your  ar- 
guments against  these  heretics'  Bible  Rule:  I  hope  that,  as  a  man  of  sense,  you  will 
just  follow  out  your  own  argument.  The  Bible,  you  say,  cannot  prove  its  own  au- 
thenticity ;  therefore,  it  is  not  the  word  of  God  ;  it  is  not  inspired  !  Nay,  Dr.  Power, 
the  Bible  does  not  prove  the  existence  of  God !  Therefore,  it  is  defective,  it  is  not  inspi- 
red P^  You  would  say, — "  Sir,  I  prove  the  existenfie  of  God  against  you  and  atheists, 
from  the  works  of  nature ;  and,  Sir,  the  Bible  assumes  this  that  there  is  a  God ;  and  it 
is  he  who  speaks  in  it  to  us."  Just  so,  in  reasoning  against  a  d':^ist ;  you  muit  prove 
the  authenticity  of  the  Bible,  not  from  its  own  page :  for  he  does  not  believe  it.  You 
must  prove  it  as  I  have  said  above,  from  other  arguments  :  and  thus,  in  opposing  a 
deist,  you  annihilate  your  own  argument  against  our  Rule  ! 

You  object  that  the  "Bible  cannot  be  the  Rule,"  because  bad  men  and  heretics 
sought  shelter  under  it,  and  made  a  bad  use  of  it.  Profound  logic !  The  abuse  of  a 
thing  condemns  it,  then.  Hence,  as  med'cine  and  food  have  been  abused,  it  is  wicked 
to  use  them  for  the  end  for  which  God  made  them !  The  gospel  itself  has  been 
abused  by  heretics;  therefore,  it  is  unfit  to  bring  siuners  to  Christ. 

Again,  you  have  ventured  to  object  against  the  Bible  being  "  the  Rule,"  alledging 
that  it  has  originated  all  the  errors,  divisions,  and  schisms,  that  exist  among  Protest- 
ants.    This  objection  I  hold  up  before  the  christian  public  :  and,  do  solemnly  charge 


Roman  catholic  controversy.  11 

on  you,  Rev.  Gentlemen,  the  crime  of  slandering,  and  bearing  false  witness 
AGAINST  God's  holy  scriptures  I  You  charge  on  God's  word  the  impious  errors 
and  deeds  of  sinful  men  !  The  Bible,  gentlemen,  never  originated  one  error,  or  heresy ! 
never  coimtenanced  them :  never  approved  them  !  On  the  contrary,  it  solemnly 
condemns  every  error  that  springs  up !  These  errors  arose  from  man's  proud  con- 
tempt of  piety,  and  their  refusal  to  hear  and  obey  the  holy  scriptures.  Gentlemen : 
what  have  you  said  ?  Do  you  deny  the  Bible  to  be  God's  word  ?  If  not,  then  I  re- 
peat it,  God  speaks  in  it.  You  must  admit  this,  or  confess  yourselves  deists  !  Now 
what  have  you  affirmed  ?  The  Bible  has  originated  errors !  God  himself,  by  his 
Spirit  speaking  to  men,  has  originated  errors  and  heresies !  Verily  you  utter  in  plain 
words  your  origin  and  descent ! 

Let  us  apply  your  argument,  gentlemen,  to  the  papal  Rule.  In  the  bosom  of  unity 
itself  aiid  under  the  working  of  "the  infallible  rule"  of  the  Pope,  ten  errors,  heresies, 
and  divisions,  have  sprung  up  for  every  one  of  the  Protestants  !  Then  where  are  your 
pretensions  to  an  "  infallible  Rule  !"  I  appeal  to  the  public,  then,  whether  your 
argument  does  not  involve  slander  and  blasphemy  ! 

You  object  against  "  the  Bible  Rule,"  and  say  that  if  it  were  infallible,  as  we 

alledge,  "  why  does  it  not  flash  on  the  minds  of  ail  ?  why  are  there  any  deists  ?" 

Verily,  gentlemen,  you  take  incredible  pains  to  show  off  your  infallible  logic !  If 
this  logic  will  prop  up  his  holiness'  throne,  the  literature  of  your  school  will  work 

miracles.     I  shall  thus  test  your  objection.     A  deist  says  to  Dr.  Power, — "  Sir, 

the  gospel  of  the  Bible,  or  the  system  which  Christ  taught  does  not  flash  on  the 
minds  of  all, — nay,  Sir,  the  dictates  of  your  infallible  Rule,  councils,  and  popes, 
do  not  jiash  on  the  minds  of  all;  there  are  Turks  Jews,  and  deists  within  your  pale, 
and  all  around  you,  therefore  the  gospel,  and  even  popery  itself  is  a  fction  !  "  How 
will  you  meet  this  logic  with  which  you  arm  the  deist  ? 

I  conclude  by  calling  on  you  to  come  out  in  the  defence  of  your  "  infallible  Rule,^* 
composed  oi!  fallible  materials.  You  have  been  concealing  yourselves  hitherto,  in  the 
smoke  and  dust  of  deistical  objections,  against  the  Bible.  The  public  solicit  answer 
to  the  following  questions  : — 

What  is,  in  reality  your  Rule  and  Judge  7  Why  do  you  decorate  the  apocrypha 
with  the  honors  of  inspiration,  since  even  the  authors  of  these  books  never  took  it  into 
their  heads  to  claim  it ;  or  to  be  prophets.  See  Mac.  iv.  46.  ch.  ix.  27;  but  on  the  con- 
trary craved  pardon  for  errors  committed  by  them  ?  See  2  Mac.  xv.  38,  &c.  What 
evidence  have  you  that  oral  traditions  were  given  by  Christ  for  part  of  the  Rule  ? 
Where  can  these  traditions  possibly  be  found  ?  Who  is  your  Judge  of  controversy  ? 
Is  it  the  Pope  ?  Is  it  a  council  ?  Is  it  the  Pope  and  council  ?  Is  it  Holy  Mother 
Church  ?  What  is  it  you  mean,  in  soberness,  by  "  Holy  Mother  Church  ?"  Have 
any  of  your  popes  been  pagan  idolaters  ?  Was  Marcellinus  .'  Which  of  them  here- 
tics ?  Was  Liberius  the  Arian  ?  Which  of  them  a  Nero  in  vice  ?  Was  Alexan- 
der ?  Have  you  had  more  than  three  popes  at  one  time  ?  Were  they  all  mutually 
doomed  ?  Were  all  these  the  infallible  judges  and  dictators  ?  Being  successors  of 
the  Apostles,  you  must  sustain  your  claims  by  apostolical  evidence,  or  be  impostors. 
Have  you  had  no  errors,  no  divisions,  no  schisms,  in  you,  under  the  very  eye  of 
infallibility  ?  ^Vhcnce  has  it  happened, — and  this,  is  a  solemn  question, — that  infal- 
libility did  not  settle  the  immaculate,  or  non-immaculate  conce[)tion  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  ;  and  the  brawls,  and  errors  mutually  charged  on  each  other,  by  Jansenisfli 
and  Jesuits :  Franciscans  and  Dominicans  ?     Can  you  tell  us  where  that  part  of 


12  ROMAIC     CATHOMC   COJITROVERST. 

yonr  Rule,  viz.  the  universal  consent  of  the  fathers^  can  possibly  be  found  ;  as  it  i* 
not  on  the  pages  of  their  endless  contradictions  ?  Do  not  your  Rule  and  judge, 
being  human  beings,  take  away  liberty  of  conscience,  and  put  it  in  the  pope  and 
priest's  keeping  ?  And,  finally,  does  not  your  "  infallible  RuW''  require  all  devoui 
Catholics,  absolutely  to  believe  things  contrary  to,  and  contradicted  by,  the  positiv* 
evidence  of  all  their  senses  ?  Namely,  that  by  a  certain  sacerdotal  process,  a  wafer 
is  converted  into  the  body  and  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  Christ! 

Meet  these  (juestions  fairly,  and  honestly,  as  logicians,  and  theologians !  And  I 
shall  pay  my  respects  to  your  Rule,  and  your  defence  of  it,  in  my  next.  One  word  to 
my  friends  :  this,  I  call  only  skirmishing  ;  for  I  am  pressed  for  want  of  time.  I  pro- 
pose to  begin  the  controversy  with  my  learned  opponents,  soon,  in  good  earnest. 

I  am.  Gentlemen,  Yours,  &c. 

New  York,  Feb.  18,  1833.  W.  C.  Brownlee. 


TO    THE    REV.    DR.  VARELA. 


Rev.  Sir  : — The  unique  letter  which  you  have  done  me  the  honor  of  addressing  to 
me,  would  have  been  highly  amusing,  had  it  not  been  for  its  uncompromising  spirit 
of  deism ! 

What  amused  me,  was  the  manner  of  your  retreat  from  the  present  discussion,  after 
you  had  signed  your  pledge  to  stand  by  your  Rev.  Brethren.  I  knew  that  my  kind 
hearted  neighbor,  Dr.  Varela,  was  a  curious  antiquarian  as  well  as  a  classic  scholar. 
And  h€  has  been  studying  the  antiquated  Parthian  character.  These  ancient  wor- 
thies, when  in  view  of  the  enemy,  would  retreat  at  full  gallop ;  but  in  their  retreat 
they  always  discharged  a  shot  or  two,  with  their  bows  and  arrows.  So  friend  Varela, 
Parthian  like,  retreats ;  but  fires  off  an  epistle,  from  his  retreat,  before  he  gives  me 
his  "  farewell,"  and  "  leaves  me  in  good  hands!" 

But,  Sir,  you  should  not  have  retreated  ;  you  should  have  remained  firm  to  your 
pledge.  It  is  true,  you  could  not  brook  such  letters  as  those  which  the  other  two 
priests  are  inflicting  on  the  public  taste.  But  you  were  pledged,  and  you  should  not 
have  retreated. 

It  is  painful  to  see  a  gentlemem  of  your  age  and  experience,  advocating  the  leading 
principle  of  Deism  !  Paine  and  Hume  would  have  cordially  acceeded  to,  and  ap- 
plauded your  sentiments  against  the  Holy  Bible.  You  and  they  pronounce  it  unfits 
and  too  imperfect,  to  be  the  Rule  of  Faith!  I  appeal  to  the  Christian  community, 
whether  it  is  not  obviously  the  spirit  of  infidelity  that  you  advocate. 

1st.  You  ask, — "  Where  in  the  scriptures  do  you  find  that  the  scriptures  are  the 
only  Rule  of  faith  ?"  This  I  have  already  shown  in  my  two  letters.  See  Psalms  xix  ; 
Prov.  XXX.  5,  6 ;  Isaiah  viii.  19,  20 ;  2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17;  Rev.  xxii.  18, 19,  &c. 

2d.  You  demand,  "  From  what  scriptures  were  the  scriptures  believed,  when  they 
were  first  written  ?"  The  Scriptures  were  believed  by  the  people  of  God,  on  the  satis- 
factory evidence  which  the  inspired  prophet  or  apostle  produced,  to  establish  hie 
commission  from  heaven.  His  miracles  and  predictions  showed  that  God  sent  him; 
and  then,  his  words  and  his  writings  were  believed  to  be  from  God.  The  scriptures  aw 
believed  on  account  of  their  external,  as  well  as  their  internal  evidence.  I  am  awar« 
of  the  radical  error  under  which  you  and  the  other  Priests  labor.  It  is  this, — you  be- 
live  that  the  Bible  has  no  evidence^  and  no  authority,  but  just  that  which  the  Pope  and 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  13 

the  Romish  Church  choose  to  give  to  it!  You  will  not  allow  even  God  himself  to 
speak  to  us,  but  just  as  the  Pope  pleases.  This  is  the  fundamental  error  of  the  Ro- 
mish church  !     But  the  world  is  now  too  enlightened  to  submit  to  such  Gothic  ideas! 

3.  You  say, — "  Not  the  scripture,  but  its  interpretation  forms  the  ditferent  creeds  of 
different  Protestant  sects.  Hence  these  interpretations  are  real  articles  of  faith. 
Now  what  scripture  have  Protestants  for  these  interpretations  ?" 

I  reply, — God  does,  indeed,  speak  plainly  and  clearly  in  the  scriptures  ;  the  Chris- 
tian apprehends  his  will  and  mind  without  difficulty.  But  it  is  equally  certain  that 
men  of  perverse  minds  do  not  apprehend  them  aright.     Hence  the  origin  of  error. 

Now,  the  design  of  our  creed  is  not,  as  you  conceive,  to  substitute  a  human  rule 
in  the  place  of  the  divine  rule  ;  but  simply  to  detect,  and  keep  out  errorists  from  the 
fold  of  Christ.  We  say  "  here  is  the  holy  Bible."  The  false  teacher  says  *'  I  ta^ke  it  as 
it  is,  as  my  rule."  We  reply,  "  No,  you  do  not  receive  it  in  truth,  unless  you  receive 
it  in  this  precise  sense  and  meaning,  in  which  the  church  of  Christ  receives  it,  and 
has  expressed  it  in  her  canons."  If  man  were  never  false,  we  should  probably  not 
need  these  tests. 

These  articles  of  faith  are  not  wholly  expressed  in  the  language  of  scripture  :  they 
could  not  be  a  test  if  they  were.  But  then  every  doctrine  of  faith  contained  in  them 
is  carefully  taken  from  the  Bible  :  not  one  new  idea  is  added  :  nothing  is  taken  away. 
And,  in  all  cases,  the  scriptures  are  our  only  and  perfect  rule  by  which  all  these 
canons  and  articles  are  themselves  tried.  You  ask,  "  what  scripture  we  have  for  all 
this?"  I  answer, — 1  John  iv.  1  :  "Beloved,  believe  not  every  spirit :  but  try  the 
spirits  whether  they  be  of  God." 

"  4.  You  ask,  if  the  scriptures  be  so  plain,  why  do  Protestants  explain  it  ?  Why 
do  you  preach  ?" 

Here  you  bring  forAvard  the  leading  tenet  of  Popery,  namely,  the  scriptures  are 
so  obscure  tliat  no  man  can  explain  or  understand  them,  but  the  pope  and  his  priests. 

I  beg  to  ask  you.  Sir,  this  question, — "Do  you,  or  do  you  not,  believe  that  the 
scriptures  were  given  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  If  you  do  not,  you  are 
a  deist!  If  you  do,  then  you  admit  that  the  Holy  One  speaks  to  us  in  them.  If  he 
does,  then  you  will  admit  that  He  means  to  be  understood.  And  yet  you  have  the 
boldness  to  charge  the  Holy  Spirit  with  intentional  obscurity  and  darkness,  so  that  his 
own  subjects  cannot  understand  him  !  "  Why  do  we  preach  them  ?"  W'h\',  to  train, 
up  God's  people  by  instruction,  by  prayer,  and  praise  ;  and  to  make  the  authoritative 
offer  of  the  gospel  to  sinners ;  and  administer  the  sacraments  to  the  faithful.  May  I 
not  retort  on  you  ?  "Why  do  Romish  priests  preach,  since  they  have  a  living,  speak- 
ing, infallible  rule,  the  pope  ? 

"  5.  The  rule  of  your  faith  is,  that  the  scriptures  must  be  understood  and  observed 
according  to  private  judgment,  and  not  precisely  according  to  the  judgment  of  the 
church."  I  am  sorry  that  you  give  such  pal])able  proofs  of  being  utterly  unacquaint- 
ed with  the  opinions  and  dogmas  of  Protestants.  I  exhort  you  to  remember  tlie  valu- 
able proverb,  that  before  we  speak  or  tvrite  on  a  subject,  ive  should  know  something 
about  it !  You  ought  to  know,  1st,  that  what  you  state  here,  is  not  true.  The  Pro- 
testant churches  do  not  so  understand  the  scriptures.  2d.  By  the  Reformation,  we 
regained  from  ghostly  tyranny,  the  rights  of  conscience  and  private  judgment.  W^e 
think  and  judge  for  ourselves  :  we  do  not  manage  religion  by  proxy,  as  the  pope's 
subjects  do  :  we  do  not  trust  our  unalienable  rights  of  conscience  and  private  judgment 
to  the  supervision  of  a  ghostly  impostor,  nor  accecpt  his  vaporing  guarantee  of 

3 


14  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

heaven.  We  cannot  believe  with  the  duke  of  Brunswick,  that  "  a  priest  can  be 
accepted  in  our  stead,  should  we  be  condemned  for  becoming  papists."  The  priestly 
guarantee  of  heaven  is  copied  from  the  model  of  that  personage,  who,  with  equal 
boldness,  offered  our  Lord  the  whole  world  if  he  would  worship  him  ;  while,  in  fact, 
he  did  not  possess  one  foot  square  of  its  whole  surface  !  Indeed,  we  deem  the  insult 
offered  to  us,  by  those  priests,  who  profess  to  hold  the  judgment  and  consciences  of  men 
under  their  entire  control ;  and  who  denounce  "  the  fire  of  purgatory,"  and  "  the 
wrath  of  God,  and  St.  Peter,  and  St.  Paul,"  on  all  v/ho  shall  dare  read  the  Bible, 
or  even  think  for  themselves  on  matters  of  religion, — to  be  the  greatest  insult  offered 
to  our  species  !  3d.  A  gentleman  of  your  reading  ought  to  know  what  is  a  subject 
of  historical  record,  namely, — that  no  private  individuals,  but  the  pastor,  or  bishops, 
and  elders  of  the  Reformed  churches,  met  in  councils,  far  purer  and  holier  than  the 
council  of  Trent:  and  emitted  our  canons  and  confessions  of  faith,  which  they  esta- 
blished by  copious  and  infallible  extracts  from  the  scriptures.  And  yet  this  judg- 
]nent  of  the  church  of  God  is  gravely  pronounced  by  you  a  private  judgment  ? 

I  beg  leave  to  charge  publicly  on  your  church,  Sir,  the  crime  of  having  long  per- 
verted a  text  of  St.  Peter.  I  allude  to  his  words  in  the  second  epistle,  Chap.  i.  20, 
21.  "  No  PROPHECY  of  the  scriptures  is  of  any  private  interpretation,  &c."  St.  Peter 
here  speaks  of  prophecy,  and  of  that  alone.  But  your  sect.  Sir,  has  all  along  com- 
mitted the  inexcusable  error  of  making  the  apostle  say, — "  No  scripture  is  of  any 
private  interpretation."  I  call  on  Dr.  Varela,  as  an  honest  man,  to  put  a  speedy  end 
to  this  scandalous  imposition  upon  Roman  Catholic  laymen.  If  you  do  not, — then 
let  your  laymen  judge  of  their  priests'  honor  and  honesty  ' 

"  6.  Why  did  not  Luther  and  Melancthon  on  one  side,  and  Calvin  and  Zuinglius 
on  the  other,  agree  upon  the  meaning  of  these  plain  words — this  is  my  body  ?  Who 
have  the  spirit?''' 

I  reply, — they  have  the  Spirit  who  adhere  the  closest  to  the  plain  doctrine  of  the 
Bible,  and  to  common  sense.  Had  Luther  shaken  off',  at  once,  all  the  monkish  absurdi- 
ties, he  would  have  believed  not  only  that  no  ivaftr  could  be  made  into  a  God,  but 
that  no  wafer  could  contain  God,  or  his  presence  ! 

But,  Sir,  I  have  already  replied  to  this,  and  shown  your  radical  error  in  this  mode 
of  conducting  an  argument.  Can  it  be  possible,  Sir,  that  you  do  not  know  that  an 
*'  infallible  rule  and  judge""  really  do  not  secure  the  infallibility  of  all  those  who  may 
happen  to  use  that  rule  ? 

Are  you  infallible,  because  the  pope  is  your  head  and  keeps  your  conscience  ?  Are 
all  the  Catholics  in  New  York  infallible  1  Do  your  own  "  infallible  rule"  and 
"  living,  speaking  judge,"  actually  make  every  son  of  Holy  Mother  infallibly  armed 
against  all  vice,  and  all  error,  and  heresy  ? 

7.  You  assail  us  about  "the  various  and  different  translations  of  the  Bible  in 
Protestant  countries."  Each  nation  has  its  own  tongue  and  idiom  ;  and  hence  there 
may  be  shades  of  difference  in  the  expression.  But  not  one  doctrine, — not  one  idea 
is  altered,  or  perverted  by  any  of  all  the  translations  of  the  Reformed  churches.  Be- 
.*^ides,  Dr.  Varela,  you  ought  to  know,  that  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek  are  the  infallible 
standards,  and  the  last  resort  in  all  disputed  translations.  But,  Sir,  it  is  amazing  to 
hear  you,  or  any  of  your  church  attack  our  translations, — when  the  "infallible  coun- 
cil of  Trent"  has  sanctioned  the  Latin  Vulgate  as  the  only  one  to  be  used.  And  every 
Hebrew  and  Greek  scholar  in  Christendom  knows  that  the  Vulgate,  as  it  now  is, — is 
the  very  worst  of  the  worst  translations  ! 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  15 

8.  You  expatiate,  as  usual,  '*  on  the  diiferences  and  divisions  of  the  Protestants." 
I  have  replied  twice  to  this  already.  This  is  the  stereotype  declamation  of  the  priests, 
in  "  Holy  Mother."  Now,  this  comes  with  the  worst  grace  from  a  Roman  CathoUc. 
For  every  one  error  and  division  among  Protestants,  there  are  at  least,  ten  errors,  divi- 
sions, and  heresies,  in  the  very  bosom  of  unity  herself.  I  ask  you,  Sir,  are  you  a 
Jansenist?  Or  a  Jesuit?  A  Dominican?  Or  a  Franciscan?  Is  your  infallible 
rule  in  the  pope  ?  Or  is  it  in  a  council  /  Or  in  the  pope  and  council  ?  Or  in 
*'  Holy  Church  ?"  Here  is  a  fatal  division  of  four  of  your  sects  within  your  church, 
touching  this  first  essential  doctrine  !  To  which  of  all  these  sects  do  you  belong  ? 
And  finally,  if  you  have  infallibility,  somewhere,  why  does  it  not  come  out,  and 
settle  these  brawls  and  heresies  in  what  you  call  your  "holy,  one,  undivided  church?" 

"  9.  Can  the  law  be  the  judge  ?  Who  applies  it  ?  Are  the  scriptures  the  law  ? 
Can  they  be  the  judge  ?"  I  reply,  again,  the  scriptures  are  the  law  and  rule  ;  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  speaking  to  us  in  them,  is  the  Judge.  Sit  down  at  Christ's  feet.  Dr. 
Varela,  and  listen,  and  receive  his  law,  and  his  rule.  But,  if  you  did  so, — alas!  what 
a  havoc  would  you  make  of  your  oral  traditions  and  councils :  your  pope  and  cardi- 
nals, all  must  go  ;  and  even  "  the  idols  must  be  thrown  to  the  moles  and  the  bats !" 

"  10.  Private  spirit  is  fallible,  can  it  be  the  judge  of  an  infallible  faith  ?"  I  reply, 
that  you  misrepresent  us.  The  Holy  Spirit  speaks  to  us  infallibly  true.  And  ice  can 
take  up  his  holy  mind  and  icill,  more  readily  and  easily,  than  your  priests  can  take  up 
the  mind  and  will  of  "■  the  infallible'"  and  divided  popes  and  councils!!  Permit  me 
to  ask  you  :  How  many  fallihles  in  a  pope  and  council,  will  go  to  make  up  one 
INFALLIBLE  ?  Solve  tliis  problem,  before  the  christian  public.  If  you  can,  you  will 
work  a  miracle  on  your  own  behalf! 

"  11.  Private  spirit  is  unknown  but  to  him  who  possesses  it:  can  it  be  the  known 
rule  of  faith  that  will  gather  men  in  one  infallible  faith  and  religion." — The  private 
or  interior  spirit  never  was  advocated,  or  even  allowed  to  exist  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Protestant  churches.  False  prophets  and  fanatics  have  ever  been  ejected  from  the 
fold  of  Christ.  Your  charge  against  us  here,  is  either  unintelligible,  or,  pardon  me,  it 
is  wilful  slander !  The  Romish  church,  as  every  well  read  man  knows,  has  been 
the  steady  patron  o^ fanatics,  and  the  interior  spirit!  Witness  your  Tanquelmus,  and 
the  Amauri,  and  the  Whip  per  s,  in  whose  processions  such  royal  fanatics  as  the  king 
of  France,  and  the  Cardinal  Lorraine  have  more  than  once  joined  to  patronize  the 
interior  spirit.  See  Boileau's  Hist,  of  the  Flagel.  chap.  23.  And,  finally,  your  own 
preacher  Taulerus  exhibited  his  fanatical  effusions  at  Cologne  in  A.  D.  1346.  These 
sermons  were  published  in  various  places;  and  originated  almost  every  fanatical 
sect  in  Holland,  France,  and  Britain,  after  the  Reformation! 

"  12.  The  spirit  is  your  key  to  open  the  mysteries  of  the  scriptures,  but  what 
sign  have  you  to  distinguish  the  true  from  the  eriZ  spirit  ?"  I  have  just  answered 
this  charge  of  fanaticism.  Those  who  have  claimed  immediate  inspiration,  and  gave 
their  signs,  and  wrought  their  miracles,  were  the  fanatics  who  sprung  up  in  "  Holy 
Mother's"  bosom,  and  poured  their  deluges  of  outrageous  folly  over  the  land.  They 
were  uniformly  ejected  by  all  the  Protestant  churches.  Your  charge,  brought  against 
Luther  and  Calvin,  that  they  professed  to  work  miracles,  and  raise  the  dead,  is  copi- 
ed from  the  pages  of  the  wretched  Bolsec  ;  not  one  of  whose  statements  even  a  Roman 
priest  ever  believed.  For  you  know  that  that  man  was  such  an  atrocious  apostate, 
that  he  was  excluded  from  even  your  communion ;  and  he  died  under  "  Holy  Mo- 
ther's" ban  I 


16  ROMAN     CATHOLIC    COFCTROVERaT. 

"  13.  How  can  you  prove  a  man  to  be  a  heretic,  if  he  has  the  same  rule  of  faith 
with  you,  and  the  same  right  to  apply  it  ?"  To  this  I  reply  that  it  is  no  difficult  mat- 
ter to  convict  a  man  who  is  a  htrttic.  For  instance,  the  word  of  God  teaches  us  that 
he  is  a  heretic  who  makes  a  man,  St.  Peter,  for  instance,  the  foundation  of  the  church, 
instead  of  Christ!  He  is  a  heretic  who  makes  a  man  the  head  of  the  church, 
instead  of  Christ !  He  is  a  heretic  who  bows  down  to  stocks  and  stones,  and 
prays  to  dead  men,  and  dead  women  !  He  is  a  heretic  who  believes  that  purgatory,  and 
not  Christ's  blood,  purges  away  our  sins !  He  is  a  heretic  who  makes  a  god,  prays 
to  him, — and  then  eats  him  up  !  All  this  the  Bible  tells  us  very  plainly.  He  may 
indeed  say  that  he  adheres  to  the  Bible  also,  as  his  rule.  But  it  is  an  easy  matter  to 
make  it  manifest  that  his  monstrous  heresy  is  not  countenanced  by  the  Bible.  And 
then  by  witnesses,  we  can  prove  that  the  man  does  hold,  and  teach  these  revolting 
errors.  He  may  swagger  and  assume  high  airs,  and  call  himself  '•^ a.  holy  priest,'' 
and  "  is  no  less  than  infallible,"  and  "can  open  heaven,  and  s^wf  it."  Poor  man  !  this 
only  proves  that  he  labors  under  a  spiritual  madness.  The  fact  is,  we  can,  in  a 
church  court,  con^Tict  him  of  heresy,  notwithstanding  all  his  delusions  and  wildness, 
just  as  easily  as  we  can  a  murderer  in  a  court  of  justice.  I  hope  I  have  fairly  answered 
you. 

"  14.  Can  any  man  learn  by  himself,  from  the  scriptures,  every  essential  point  of 
faith,  without  any  fear  of  error?"  I  answer,  yes;  he  can  learn,  without  error,  all 
that  Christ  has  revealed,  for  our  salvation.  But  he  can  find  there  none  of  all  the 
essential  doctrines  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  For  the  Bible  never  contained 
them,  and  Christ  never  taught  them  !  Finally,  I  reply  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul, — 
"  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  &c.,  and 
that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  to  all  good  ivorks." 

I  shall  not  follow  you,  at  present,  through  your  quotations  from  the  writings  of  the 
Reformers.  You  know,  and  all  the  world  knows,  that  these  Protestants  solemnly 
condemned  the  errors  of  popery  to  which  you  cling  ;  and  wrote  unanimously  against 
them.  With  what  degree  of  honor,  or  honesty,  you  profess  to  quote  in  favor  of  your 
errors,  men  publicly  known  as  their  avowedly  greatest  enemies,  I  shall  leave  the  pub- 
lic to  judge.  "  Give  me  permission,"  said  an  eminent  partizan  of  the  Romish  church, 
"  to  select  scraps  from  the  pages  of  the  best  writer  in  France,  and  I  shall  soon  have 
him  hanged  for  high  treason  !" 

Farewell,  Dr.  Varela  :  I  reciprocate  your  kindness,  and  "  leave  you  in  good  hands.'* 
May  God  bless  you,  and  save  you  by  his  grace. 

Yours  very  truly,  and  respectfully. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  III. 

TO    DOCTORS    POWER,    VARELA,    AND    MR.    LEVINS. 

"  Ibant  obscuri  sola  sub  nocte  per  umbram ! 
Quale  per  incertam  lunam,  sub  luce  maligna, 
Est  iter  in  sylvis." — Virg. 

Rev.  Gentlemen  : — The  elegant  Roscoe  relates  that  a  certain  laconic  senate  in 
Italy,  condemned  a  man  for  employing-  three  words  where  two  only  should  have  been 
used.  And  their  sentence  doomed  him  to  one  of  two  punishments :  namely,-^to  go 
to  the  galleys  for  life,  or  to  read  through  the  verbose  work  of  Guiciardini.     The  cul- 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  17 

prit  chose  the  latter.     But  having  fairly  choked  on  the  first  page ; — he  begged  his 
punishment  to  be  commuted  to  the  galleys  for  life. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  your  certain  fate,  if  brought  to  this  bar.  And  your 
punishment  would  lie  between  the  choice  of  the  galleys,  and  the  reading  and  digesN 
ing  of  your  extraordinary  letters ! 

Verbosity  is  not  your  only  besetting  sin.  There  is  something  else  in  it,  which  a 
man  of  delicate  and  refined  taste,  would,  with  McGavin,  call  "billingsgate;"  or  in 
the  words  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  "  blackguardism."  Yet,  in  charity  it  may  be  only  a 
wild  burst  of  emotions  from  consciences  stricken  by  the  force  of  truth.  I  shall  extract 
one  sentence  as  a  specimen  of  your  first  two  columns ;  and  leave  it  without  remark. 
*'  In  it,"  that  is,  my  letter, — "  there  is  the  strut  of  the  bully !  the  gasconade  of  the 
coward  !  the  subterfuge  of  the  dissembler !  the  trick  of  the  partizan !  the  pretensions 
of  the  sciolist!  the  petulence  of  the  sour  Calvinist!  the  malignant  zealotry  of  the 
Puritan !" 

You  have  volunteered  a  confession  of  "  the  inspiration,  authenticity,  and  genuine-, 
ness  of  the  holy  scriptures."  You  say, — "  We  deny  not  the  inspiration  of  the  scrip-, 
tures ;" — "  JVe  hold  the  scriptures  to  be  an  infallible  rule.'''' 

I  am  sorry  that  there  is  room  for  saying  that  a  palpable  deception  Ls  practised  in 
these  terms.  The  word  "  scriptures"  has  a  very  different  meaning  in  the  Roman 
Catholic's  vocabulary,  from  that  of  the  Protestant's.  All  the  world  knows  that  in  the 
belief  of  the  Protestant,  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  those  of  the  New,  in  the 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  rendered  accurately  into  our  vernacular, — and  nothing  else  than 
these,  constitute  the  holy  scriptures. 

But  in  your  creed,  gentlemen,  j'ou  add  to  the  inspired  books,  the  human  -WTitings 
and  fictions,  called  the  Apocrypha :  and  then  all  these  must  be  used  in  the  Latin  false 
version,  called  the  Vulgate.  This  is  not  all;  you  add  oraZ  traditions,  of  unknown  and 
doubtful  origin  ;  and,  moreover  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  fathers !  All  these  con- 
stitute your  "scriptures:"  and  this  is  what  you  always  intend  when  you  speak  of 
the  scriptures!  And  to  consummate  the  difference  between  us.  You  denounce  the 
private  christian's  unalienable  right  to  read  the  Bible,  and  to  learn  the  meaning  of 
God's  Spirit  speaking  plainly  and  clearly  unto  him.  You  deny,  and  even  ridicule 
the  claims  of  the  private  rights  of  judgment.  You  treat  with  bitter  sarcasm  the 
christian's  liberties  of  conscience.  You  have  usurped  power  over  the  conscience,  and 
deny  that  any  man  has  a  right  from  God,  even  to  think  for  himself  on  religion,  with- 
out license  from  a  priest !  Hence,  you  not  only  set  up  a  new  rule,  and  invent  new 
scriptures ;  but  you  erect  a  novel  tribunal  to  dictate  to  men's  consciences  the  mean- 
ing of  the  "scriptures!"  This  new  tyrant  is — 3'ou  say, — "a  visible  society  of  men, 
appointed  by  Christ,  called  the  church  of  God, — meaning  the  Romish  church  ;  or  the 
pope  and  his  clergy !  And  I  beg  every  christian  and  patriot  in  the  republic  to 
examine  the  claims  which  our  priests  set  up  in  behalf  of  this  foreign  despot, — "  to 
this  society  of  men,"  say  you,  "  for  the  final  ending  of  all  controversies  in  religion, 
all  christians  are  bound  to  adhere  and  submit  their  judgment,  and  their  opinions,  on 
points  of  religion;  and  this  on  pain  of  eternal  damnation."' — Priests'  Letter  ii. 

Is  not  til  is  the  climax  of  pontifical  arrogance ;  the  consummation  of  fanaticism  : 
the  full  overflowings  of  the  deadly  chalice  of  Popery, — whose  master  spirits  were  seen 
in  visions  by  John,  "  trafRcing  in  human  souls !" 

I  have,  in  my  last  two  letters,  in  the  briefest  manner  possible,  established  the  truth 
of  the  authenticity,  and  inspiration  of  the  holy  scriptures :  and,  thence,  showed  vhat 

3* 


18  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

this  evidence  is  the  perfect  evidence  of  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible ;  in  which  the 
Holy  Ghost,  as  the  infallible  judge,  speaks  to  us.  This  also,  decides  the  canonicity 
of  each  of  the  books,  of  the  holy  canon  of  scripture.  Every  book  established  by  the 
evidence  referred  to,  is  a  part  of  that  canon ;  and  every  book  which  is  not  sustained 
by  this  evidence,  is  not  to  be  received  into  the  canon.  We  pointed  out  the  radical 
error  of  Romish  writers,  on  this  point.  They  make  the  authority  and  proof  of  the 
inspiration  of  the  scriptures,  to  depend  on  "the  church,"  meaning  the  Romish 
church  !  This  is  one  of  their  chief  and  most  mischievous  errors.  It  aims  a  deadly 
blow  at  divine  revelation.  But  the  Bible  does,  in  truth,  no  more  depend  on  the 
Roman  church  for  the  evidence  of  its  divinity,  and  authority ;  than  does  the  sustain- 
ing of  the  heavens  and  the  earth  depend  on  the  pope's  nod !  Their  divinity  and 
inspiration  are  fully  sustained  by  other,  and  complete  portions  of  evidence  besides 
tradition ;  namely  internal  and  external^  from  the  display  of  miracles,  from  predictions, 
&c.  And  we  distinctly  noticed,  and  again  repeat  it, — that,  for  the  tradition,  or  histo- 
rical evidence  of  the  church,  which  hands  the  canon  of  scripture  down,  simply  as 
a  depository,  we  are  as  much  indebted  to  the  Hebrews,  and  the  Jews ;  to  the  Greek 
church ;  to  the  pure  and  apostolical  church  of  the  Waldenses  ;  and  to  the  libraries  of 
the  curious,  whether  christians  or  heretics ;  as  well,  and  as  much  as  to  the  church 
of  Rome.  That  this  last  sect  should  set  up  such  arrogant  pretensions,  and  claim  the 
whole  honor  of  transmitting  the  Bible,  and  of  giving  it  all  its  authority,  must  be  set 
down  to  sheer  knavery,  or  a  derangement  in  the  moral  faculty. 

Now,  from  this  evidence,  I  proved  the  word  of  God  to  be  the  only  in  fallible  rule  of 
faith :  for  it,  and  it  alone,  comes  from  God :  and  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  to  us,  is 
the  only  judge  of  controversy,  in  religious  matters.  And  I  quoted  select  passages 
which  clearly  and  distinctly  declare  the  mind  of  that  only  judge  deciding  the  contro- 
versy. And  these  who  set  themselves  in  opposition  to  these  texts,  and  their  authority 
are  guilty  of  the  crime  of  setting  up  the  pope  as  a  rival  to  the  Holy  Ghost !  I  rest  my 
appeal  with  the  public.  And  remember,  gentlemen,  that  the  petulent  denial  that 
you  gave  to  these  texts,  for  argument  you  have  none,  was  not  in  proper  keeping.  You 
have  no  right  to  pronounce  sentence  on  one  of  my  arguments  :  you  are  neither  judge 
nor  jury.  It  belongs  to  the  christian  public,  to  pronounce,  finally,  on  mine,  and 
your  arguments. 

And  by  this  protestant  lesson  and  logic,  to  which  all  priests  are,  by  their  habits,  of 
course,  utter  strangers,  I  trust  you  will  duly  profit,  and  fructify  in  future. 

You  have,  with  much  zeal,  endeavored  from  the  outset,  to  retard  my  approach 
to  examine  your  rule  :  but  now  we  have  it  fairly  before  us  ;  and  though  you  renew  the 
stereotype  challenge  to  stop  at  certain  points,  until  you  be  satisfied,  I  assure  you,  gentle- 
men, that  I  have  three  reasons  for  rejecting  this  demand  : — 

1.  As  a  Protestant,  I  will  not  be  dictated  to,  as  to  the  mode  of  my  argument.  For, — 

2.  You  have  not  got  us  into  the  Inquisition  yet :  and  we  Protestants  do  not  view 
with  much  love,  this  mode  a  la  Spanish,  of  joining  the  sword  to  the  pen.     And, 

3.  The  ivhole  question  of  the  rule,  is  before  us,  and  why  do  you  affect  to  say  that 
I  shall  discuss  only  one  point, — and  not  touch  your  rule,  or  take  in  the  whole  field  ? 

Before  entering  on  the  dissection  of  the  popish  rule  and  judge,  it  will  be  interesting 
to  trace  the  origin  of  this  extravagant  dogma,  and  the  real  motive  which  first  led  the 
partizans  of  Rome  to  adopt  it. 

Dr.  Middleton,  in  his  curious  "  Letter  from  Rome, ^"^  has  fully  and  satisfactorily  traced 
into  the  ancient  Roman  paganism,  almost  every  characteristic  rite  and  ceremony, 


11DMA5   CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSt.  19 

wliich  the  Roman  Catholics  have  introduced  into  their  corrupted  system  of  Christianity. 
The  parallel  is  truly  striking,  and  shall  be  noticed  in  due  time.  But  the  originating 
cause  of  her  adopting  this  dogma  about  the  rule  of  faith,  is  found  solely  within  the 
bosom  of  her  own  ambition.  The  famous  Chillingworth  has  traced  it  with  a  master's 
hand  in  the  following  extract,  which  will  be  perused  by  my  readers,  with  deep 
interest : — 

"  He  that  would  usurp  an  absolute  lordship  and  tyranny  over  any  people,  need  not 
put  himself  to  the  trouble  and  difficulty  of  abrogating,  and  disannulling  the  laws 
made  to  maintain  the  common  liberty  :  for  he  may  frustrate  their  intention  and  com- 
pass his  own  design  as  well,  if  he  can  get  the  power  and  authorithy  to  interpret 
them  as  he  pleases,  and  add  to  them  what  he  pleases,  and  to  have  his  interpretations 
and  additions  stand  for  laws  ;  if  he  can  rule  his  people  by  his  laws,  and  his  laws  by 
his  lawyers.  So  the  church  of  Rome,  to  establish  her  tyranny  over  men's  consciences, 
needed  not  either  to  abolish  or  corrupt  the  holy  scriptures,  the  pillars  and  supporters 
of  christian  liberty,  (which  in  regard  of  the  numerous  multitude  of  copies  dispersed 
through  all  places,  translated  into  almost  all  language,  guarded  with  all  solicitous  care 
and  industry',  had  been  an  impossible  attempt :)  but  the  more  expedite  way,  and 
therefore  the  more  likely  to  be  successful,  was  to  gain  the  opinion  and  esteem  of  the 
public  authorised  interpreter  of  them,  and  the  authority  of  adding  to  them  what  doc- 
trine she  pleased,  under  the  title  of  traditions,  or  definitions.  For  by  this  means,  she 
might  both  serve  herself  of  all  those  clauses  of  scripture  which  might  be  drawn  to  cast 
a  favorable  countenance  upon  her  ambitious  pretences,  which  in  case  the  scriptures 
had  been  abolished,  she  could  not  have  done,  and  yet  be  secure  enough  of  having  either 
her  power  limited,  or  her  corruptions  and  abuses  reformed  by  them.  This  being  once 
settled  in  the  minds  of  men,  that  unwritten  doctrines  if  proposed  by  her,  were  to  be 
received  with  equal  reverence  to  those  that  were  written  ;  and  that  the  sense  of  scrip- 
ture was  not  that  which  seemed  to  men's  reason  and  understanding  to  be  so,  but  that 
which  the  church  of  Rome  should  declare  to  be  so,  seemed  it  never  so  unreasonable 
and  incongruous.  The  matter  being  once  thus  ordered,  and  the  holy  scriptures 
being  made  in  effect,  not  your  directors  and  judges,  (no  farther  than  you  please  ;)  but 
your  servants  and  instruments,  always  pressed,  and  in  readiness  to  advance  your  de- 
signs  it  is  safe  for  you  to  put  a  crown  on  their  head,  and  a  reed  in  their  hands,  and 

to  bow  before  them  and  cry :  Hail  King  of  the  Jews !  To  pretend  a  great  deal  of 
esteem,  and  respect,  and  reverence  to  them." 

I.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  cannot  pretend,  with  any  show  of  reason,  to  pos- 
sess this  "  infallible  rule,"  when  her  greatest  men  cannot  agree  among  themselves, 
in  deciding  where  this  rule  exists.  Every  one  knows  the  endless  diversity  of  senti- 
ment among  the  Romish  writers,  touching  the  point  where  this  infallible  power  lies. 
I  have  formerly  noticed  four  distinct  sects  among  them.  I  have  now  to  add,  that  one 
class  led  on  by  Pighius,  Albert,  Gretser,  and  Bellarmine,  and  followed  by  all  the 
Jesuits,  place  the  exercise  of  infallible  power  in  the  pope,  and  make  him  the  deposi- 
tory of  interpretation.  Bellarmine  De  Pontif.  Lib.  iv.  cap.  3,  and  cap.  5,  says 
♦'  the  pope  cannot  possibly  err."  The  canon  law  in  the  gloss,  calls  the  pope,  **  the 
Lord  God."  The  Bishop  of  Bitonto,  Mussus,  has  styled  him  :  "  Him  who  is  to  us  as 
our  god  upon  earth."  The  bishop  of  Grenada  called  him,  "  a  god  on  earth  not  subject 
to  a  council."  And  so  late  as  July,  1809,  Pope  Pius  VH.,  in  excommunicating  "his 
own  dear  son"  Napoleon,  whom  he  had  crowned  and  blessed,  says :  "  We,  unworthy 
as  we  are,  represent  the  God  of  peace !" 


20  ROMAJf    CATHOLIC    COXTROVERST. 

Another  class  make  the  pope  an  unlimited  monarch  in  spiritual  and  civil  matters. 
This  was  the  sentmient  of  the  councils  of  Florence,  of  the  Lateran,  and  of  Trent. 
Another  class  violently  oppose  this  tyranny,  and  stand  up  in  behalf  of  the  rights  of 
councils;  and  they  assign  the  pope  only  the  right  of  presidency.  Du  Pin,  Paola 
and  others  advocate  this ;  and  they  are  sustained  by  the  decisions  of  the  councils  of 
Pisa,  Constance,  and  Basil,  x^nd  Pope  Eugenius  IV.  did  solemnly  for  awhile,  ac- 
knowledge this.     These  opinions  respect  the  pope's  supremacy,  and  his  infallibility. 

The  decretals  of  Pope  Pius  I.,  declare  for  the  rights  of  bishops  against  the  lordly 
claims  of  their  superiors.  "  Bishops  are  accountable  only  to  God."  Bellarmine 
opposes  this  with  fierce  zeal,  and  places  the  pope  above  all  councils,  and  all  tribunals 
on  earth,  and  all  law!  To  crown  the  climax,  he  writes  thus:  DtPontif.  Lib.  iv.cap.5. 
*^  If  the  pope  could  so  far  err,  as  to  command  vice  and  prohibit  virtue,  the  Church  would 
be  bound  to  believe  vice  to  be  good,  and  virtue  to  be  badP''  I  can  give  many  more  quo- 
tations, were  it  necessary,  out  of  the  canon  law,  and  decretals  of  Pope  Gregory  VIII. 
This  was  the  usual  style  of  the  ghostly  powers  in  the  dark  ages.  But,  now  they  have 
gradually  receded  from  this  folly  and  impiety,  down  through  the  other  shades  of  dif- 
ference, to  a  "  mere  presidency  of  the  pope."  And  Dr.  Pise,  I  heard  assert  on  the 
floor  of  the  Protestant  Association,  that  they  owned  the  pope  merely  as  their  "  spiritual 
head,^^  and  rejected  him,  or  rather,  never  owned  him  as  a  temporal  prince  !  It  is  true, 
no  man  who  has  read  the  canon  law  and  decretals,  can  for  a  moment,  believe  this 
statement  of  Dr.  Pise.  For  the  pope  "infallibly"  claims  this  power  and  still  wears 
the  triple  crown.     Bellarm.  Lib.  v.  cap.  6. 

Other  Romish  writers  have  placed  councils  above  the  pope  :  and  there  have  been 
councils  that  have  actually  exercised  this  power.  The  council  of  Sinuessane  if  we 
may  believe  ancient  records,  and  3'Our  Remish  annotators,  Luke  xxii.  21,  arraigned, 
tried,  and  condemned  Pope  Marcelline  for  pagan  idolatry!  The  council  of  Con- 
stance condemned  Pope  John  XXIII. ,  and  that  of  Basil  condemned  Pope  Eugenius 
IV. 

The  assembly  of  Cardinals  and  Prelates  of  France  in  1625,  declared  that  "his 
Holiness  the  pope  is  above  all  calumny,  and  his  faith  out  of  the  reach  of  error  I" 
This  was  the  dogma  of  the  Jesuits.  "  The  church  "  say  many  writers,  and  my 
opponents  among  the  rest,  "the  church  is  the  infallible  rule  and  judge."  No; 
says  another  class ;  "the  pope  alone  is  judge ;"  "The  pope  is  above  the  Catholic 
church."  "No  council  can  touch  him,"  says  Pighius.  "He  is  above  councils," 
says  Bellarmine,  yet  he  adds  like  a  holy  son  of  infallibility,  "he  may  be  deposed, 
only  for  heresy."  Lib.  ii.  De  pont.  Cap.  30.  Yes!  say  several  "infallible  councils," 
"we  are  above  the  pope,  and  can  try  him,  and  can  depose  him,  and  we  have  done 
it!"     And  thus,  they  suit  the  action  to  the  word,  like  honest  men! 

Thus,  it  is  manifest  that  the  leading  men  of  the  Roman  church  are  all  agreed  that 
they  have  within  '■'■the  church,''  an  infallible  rule  and  judge.  But  they  are  at 
endless  war  among  themselves  respecting  the  place  where  it  is  deposited.  AVe  have 
it ;  that  is  certain  ;  but  we  cannot  tell  where  it  is  I  Hence  Dean  Swift  observed  that 
"really  Holy  Mother  might  as  well  be  without  an  infallible  head;  as  not  to  know 
where  to  find  him,  in  time  of  necessity !" 

But,  nevertheless,  they  agree  in  a  marvellous  manner  on  this  point ;  namely, — to 
reject  unanimously  the  infallible  rule  of  God  our  Saviour;  and  himself,  as  the  infal- 
lible Judge.  "  They  are  not  content  wdth  Christ  the  judge  in  heaven ;  and  the  holy 
scriptures  the  rule  and  judge  on  earth," — says  an  eminent  writer, — "but  they  must 


ROMAff    CATHOLIC    COffTROVERST.  21 

have  another  judge ;  a  visible  judge.  Like  the  Israelites,  they  must  have  a  visible 
god  to  go  before  them, — though  it  were  but  a  calf."' 

Let  the  Roman  CathoHcs  go  then,  and  try  their  infalhble  rule  in  the  composing 
of  their  own  internal  wars  and  controversies.  Let  them  do  this,  before  they  stalk 
forth  as  my  learned  opponents  say,  in  reference  to  their  present  warfare, — "  arming 
themselves  with  a  panoply  tempered  by  no  terrestrial  artist ;"  to  attack  the  genius  of 
Protestantism  in  his  strong  holds.  It  will  be  well  for  them,  if,  like  the  hero  Don 
Quixotte,  they  meet  only  a  windmill,  in  a  similar  illusion  of  the  brain ! 

II.  What  the  Roman  Catholic  church  claims  as  the  only  infallible  rule,  is  a  thing 
absolutely  beyond  the  reach  of  the  pope,  or  any  council.  It  is  positively  impractica- 
ble of  application  by  mere  mortals! 

Were  it  not  for  the  impiety  of  the  thing,  it  were  a  piece  of  pleasant  humor  to  hear 
a  Roman  priest  descanting  about  the  obscurity  of  the  Bible;  and  melting  into  pathos 
about  the  impossibility  of  God's  own  rational  creatures  understanding  a  plain  and 
luminous  message  of  the  gospel  from  their  Creator!  Now,  in  opposition  to  all  his 
declamation,  it  is  evident  that  the  priest  never  feared,  nor  even  believed  the  obscurity 
of  the  Bible.  It  is  because  it  is  "  so  small  a  booJc,^^  and  of  such  easy  access ;  and  because 
it  is  so  plain  and  clear,  that  he  does  fear  it ;  and  labour  to  keep  it  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  laity.     If  it  were  obscure,  it  would  do  "  Holy  Mother"  no  harm! 

But,  let  anyone  look  at  the  "infallible  rule"  of  the  Catholic  Church!  1st.  it 
includes  the  scriptures,  with  the  apocrypha,  with  all  its  fictions  and  indecencies.  Now, 
I  tell  you,  gentlemen,  the  pope,  and  your  church  can  no  more  wield  the  sword  of  the 
spirit,  and  fix  infallible  interpretations;  and  subdtie  the  human  soul;  and  produce 
faith ;  and  create  a  new  heart  in  man  ;  and  convey  divine  grace, — all  which  our  infal- 
lible word,  and  judge  do, — than  they  can  create  a  new  Ireland ;  or  even  cleanse  the 
Augean  stable  of  his  Holiness's  court  at  Rome ! 

This  is  not  all. — In  your  rule,  and  as  an  essential  part  of  it,  yon  reckon  all  the  acts, 
and  decisions  of  "Holy  Mother  Church." — These  are  deposited,  in,  at  least,  8  folio 
volumes  of  the  Popish  Bulls:  in  10  folio  volumes  of  Decretals:  in  31  folio  volumes 
of  Acts  of  Councils;  in  51  folio  volumes  of  the  Doings  and  Sayings  of  the  Saint's, — 
"  Acta  Sanctorum."  And  add  to  all  this,  at  least  35  volumes  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
fathers;  in  which  are  to  be  found  that  part  of  your  rule  called  the  unanimous  consent 
of  the  fathers.  And  to  all  this  chaos  of  unread,  unexamined,  unimagined  materials, 
you  add  the  almost  boundless  list  of  M/«yri7fen  traditions,  which,  like  the  learned  Ger- 
man's book,  contain  "  observations  and  dogmas  on  all  things, — and  somethings 
besides :" — traditions  which  have  floated  down  on  the  wind,  and  the  miasmatic  air  of 
Rome  for  nearly  1260 years! 

All  these  cumbrous  and  enormous  additions  made  to  tlie  holy  scriptures,  constitute 
the  Roman  Catholic  rule  :  the  pope  is  judge.  This  judge  must  know  the  holy  Bible 
infallibly  and  wholly:  he  must  be  minutely,  perfectly,  and  infallibly  ac(]nainted  with 
all  the  above  named  135  folio  volumes  :  he  must  know  infallibly  all  their  unknowable 
contents:  reconcile  all  their  irreconcilable  contradictions:  know  minutely,  and  infal- 
libly, all  the  cases,  and  wants  of  all  his  dear  flock,  namely,  the  cardinals,  prelates, 
priests,  and  lay  subjects;  he  must  know  the  hearts  of  all;  and  be  able  to  send  light 
into  the  human  mind,  and  uprightness  into  the  human  conscience:  he  must  know  the 
merits,  perfectly,  of  each  contending  partizan,  and  order  of  friars;  and  set  forth,  in 
a  plain,  clear,  and  luminous  page,  every  truth  to  settle  disputes ;  so  that  if  the  combat- 
ants do  not  see  it,  his  infallible  rule  may  yet  convince  and  convert  all  the  predestinated 


22  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

children  of  heaven !  And,  finally,  as  the  first  step  towards  his  evidence  of  doing  all 
the  rest,  he  must  write  down  as  clearly,  as  by  a  sun  beam,  the  place  where  the  long 
sought  for,  the  terra  incognita ;  the  undiscovered,  and  undiscoverable  land  of  infalli- 
bility and  supremacy,  can  be  found !  That  is,  your  infallible  judge  must  begin  by 
conquering  an  absolute  impossibility ;  and  this  being  achieved,  lie  must  show  proof 
further,  by  triumphantly  proceeding-  to  conquer  ten  thousand  impossibilities ;  annually, 
and  hourly,  and  each  passing  moment,  day  and  night! 

This  being  manifestly  the  true  state  of  the  case,  one  is  almost  tempted  to  think  the 
claims  of  the  Romish  church  to  07ie  infallible  head  or  judge  only,  to  be  quite  moderate 
and  modest!  I  am  persuaded  that,  in  order  to  know  infallibly  the  Hebrew  text,  and 
the  Greek  text ;  and  all  the  different  sentiments  and  doctrines  contained  in  these  135 
folio  volumes ;  and  to  digest  and  arrange  all  the  oral  traditions ;  and  bring  the  unani- 
mous consent  out  of  the  fathers,  where  no  consent  ever  existed, — not  even  ten  millions 
of  popes,  such  as  the  luxurious  and  effeminate  things,  which  have  reigned  in  Rome 
under  the  name  of  popes,  could  do  the  ten  millionth  part  required  of  this  rule  !  ! ! 

Nay,  I  must  put  the  case  stronger  still ;  none  but  Almighty  God  has  the  attribute  of 
infallibility:  none  but  God  can  reveal  to  the  church  his  own  word:  none  can  be  the 
lord  of  the  conscience,  but  our  Creator:  and  he  is  supreme  Lord  thereof.  And  there 
can  be  no  more  any  inferior,  or  subordinate  lord  of  the  conscience,  as  my  opponents 
aflfirm,  than  there  can  be  a  rival  to  the  Almighty  on  the  throne  of  our  hearts,  and  on  his 
throne  in  heaven!  None  can  be  judge  and  rule  of  faith,  but  he  alone  who  can  create 
a  new  heart  in  us;  and  make  us  true  christians,  even  the  Great  God,  who,  indeed, 
uses  men  as  pastors,  and  to  be  our  spiritual  teachers  and  advisers ;  but  who  alone  knows 
all  the  secrets  of  the  souls  of  all  men :  and  who  alone  convinces  and  converts.  He 
alone  can  be  the  judge ;  and  his  word  alone  can  be  our  rule.  And  those  who  set  up 
these  counter  claims,  we  repeat  it,  must  either  be  Jesuitical  knaves,  using  false  and 
wicked  pretences  to  gain  an  ascendency  over  the  souls,  bodies,  and  goods  of  men ;  or 
else,  they  are  deranged  in  the  moral  faculty  /  This  claim  set  up  by  the  pope,  and  the 
priests,  reminds  me  of  a  saying  of  a  maniac  in  the  Philadelphia  Asylum,  *'  People  think 
me  idle  here,  in  my  cloister,  or  dungeon  cell,  in  this  easy  old  bachelor  life,  which  I  am 
leading !  But,  alas !  for  the  ignorance  of  mankind  !  Be  it  known,  that  I  keep  in  motion 
the  balance  wheel  of  heaven  :  but  for  me,  all  nature  would  stand  still !" 

The  pope's  claims  are  fully  as  extensive  and  extravagant.  He  absolutely  affects  to 
do,  in  the  spiritual  world,  in  the  church,  in  purgatory,  and  in  heaven,  what  the  ma- 
niac believed  he  did  in  the  natural  world  !  The  pope  keeps  the  balance  wheel  of 
heaven  in  motion ;  but  for  him,  all  illuminations,  and  all  efficacies  of  grace,  and  all 
conversions,  and  all  deliverances  from  sin,  and  all  emancipation  from  purgatory ;  and 
entrances  into  heaven,  will  cease  and  stand  still  !  !  And  thus  "  as  God,  he  sitteth  in 
the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God."' 

This  is  the  commencement  of  our  argument  against  your  rule.  I  shall  here  pause, 
in  order  that  I  may  pay  my  respects  to  you,  in  a  review  of  the  leading  errors  and  mis- 
statements in  your  last  letter. 

1.  You  charge  me  wiih  a  want  of  unity  in  my  last  letter.  I  assure  you  there  is 
strict  logical  unity  in  it.  I  laid  down  my  rule  of  faith ;  defended  it  ;  and  closed  by 
showing  that  every  objection  you  brought  against  our  rule,  operated  ten  times  more 
severely  against  your  rule.  This  was  the  reason  why  I  noticed  the  errors,  heresies, 
and  division  in  your  church. 

But  2,  There  is  an  error  in  your  statement,  which  I  shall  bring  before  the  public  ; 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  23 

for  I  frankly  tell  you  that  I  have  no  hope  that  you  will  correct  it.  It  is  a  mis-statement 
copied,  as  usual  from  Milner's  End  of  Religious  Controversy.  It  is  the  standing  error, 
the  stereotype  misrepresentation  of  the  Roman  Cotholic  writers ;  and  is  repeated  by 
every  little  scribe  which  undertakes  the  defence  of  "  Holy  Mother."  It  is  this  :  You 
never  give  our  own  definitions,  nor  a  fair  description  of  the  Protestant  rule. 

We  have  repeatedly  stated  that  our  only  infallible  rule  is  the  scriptures :  and  the 
only  infallible  judge  is  the  Holy  Spirit,  speaking  to  us  in  them. — And  these  words  of 
God  are  interpreted  by  his  own  words  in  other  passages ;  that  is, — the  Spirit  speaking 
in  the  word,  interprets  it  to  his  church.  And  hence,  it  is  a  proverb  in  the  lips  of  all 
Protestants,  that  the  Bible,  or  the  Spirit  speaking  in  the  Bible,  is  its  own  best  inter- 
preter. All  Protestants  have  solemnly  denied  that  their  rule  is  the  Bible  as  explained 
by  private  interpretation ;  or  as  understood  by  every  private  individual!  And  yet  with 
these  denials  before  his  eyes,  Milner  asserts  this  ftilsehood  over  and  over  again,  in  his 
End  of  Religious  Controversy.  You  gentlemen,  have  repeated  and  propagated  this 
same  slander.  You  invariably  tell  your  followers  what  every  one  knows  to  be  false, 
that  the  Protestant's  Rule  is  their  Bible  as  interpreted  by  private  judgment,  or  "the 
interior  Spirit."  Indeed,  your  whole  argument  throughout  is  based  on  this  unmanly 
misrepresentation ! 

Your  error  has  arisen  from  mistaking  our  declarations,  touching  private  judgment. 
We  affirm  that  in  the  "ever  blessed  Reformation,"  we  achieved  "the  right  of  pri- 
vate judgment,"  to  think  for  ourselves  and  choose  our  religion.  Not  even  an  infant 
scholar  is  so  ignorant  as  to  think  of  hiring  a  priest  to  keep  his  conscience,  and  settle  his 
spiritual  accounts  with  his  Maker,  for  money  ! 

But  we  carefully  teach  our  people,  that  while  they  have  this  rig-ht  of  private  judg- 
ment, in  regard  to  man ;  they  are  bound  by  God's  word  to  believe  all  that  He  says, 
and  do  all  that  He  commands :  that  they  have  no  right  before  God  to  take  the  Bible  in 
any  sense  different  from  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  of  God  speaking  in  it.  That  is,  not  by 
by  private  interpretation ;  but  by  the  Bible's  own  explanation  of  itself  are  they  to  be 
guided. 

I  beg  the  particular  attention  of  my  readers  to  this  point.  It  is  this  solution  which 
neutralizes  all  the  Roman  Catholic  priests'  objections.  And  this  explanation,  we 
cannot  prevail  on  their  candor,  to  observe.  It  is  a  pitiful  cause,  which  requires  its 
defendants  to  lay  down  a  false  statement,  as  the  opinion  of  his  opponent,  that  he 
may,  in  the  estimation  of  the  ignorant,  reap  laurels  by  fighting  against  a  man  of  straw, 
or,  to  use  my  opponent's  elegant  allusion,  "couching  a  lance  against  a  windmill!'* 

As  for  John  Wesley,  it  is  not  in  my  way,  nor  yours  either,  to  drag  in  the  name 

of  that  venerable  man  into  our  controversy.     Your  arguments,  however,  take  in  a 

wide  range.     You  start  an  idea,  and  there  is  no  saying  where  you  end ;  as  Cow- 

per  says,  you — 

"  Start  it  at  home,  and  hunt  it  in  the  dark; 

Through  Gaul,  through  Greece,  and  into  Noah's  ark." 

Gentlemen  :  you  ought,  in  honor,  to  quote  the  avowed  creeds  and  confessions  of  the 

church.     No  society  is  accountable  for  the  private  opinions  of  its  members,  while  they 

are  innocent  speculations.     Your  quotation  from  Wesley  is  perverted  by  you  to  a  wrong 

sense.     You  can  extract  no  Romanism  out  of  it.     He  simply  declares  the  way  he  took 

by  prayer  and  study,  to  discover  the  meaning  of  the  Bible.     Go  you  and  do  likewise  : 

and  be  entreated  to  tread  lightly  on  the  ashes  of  John  Wesley,  and  similar  worthies,  for, — 

"  If  christian  worth  in  heaven  rise, 

Ye'U  mend  ere  ye  come  near  him  !" 


84  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  C0NTR0VER6T. 

4.  You  also  quote  from  the  judicious  Hooker,  and  Dr.  Field's  "Book  of  the  church.'' 
Now  you  know  well,  gentlemen,  that  no  two  men  wrote  with  more  vigor  and  effect 
against  popery  than  these.  And  it  is  disgraceful  in  a  literary  man,  to  torture  an  idea 
out  of  an  author,  contrary  to  the  whole  spirit  and  tenor  of  his  work.  The  quotation 
you  give  from  Hooker,  Eccles.  Polity,  p.  119,  is  nothing  to  your  purpose;  he  simply 
rebukes  ignorant  and  obstinate  errorists  "whose  capacity  will  scarce  serve  them  to  ut- 
ter/ve  words  in  a  sensible  manner," — and  who,  without  any  authority,  set  themselves 
up  as  teachers,  and  propagate  "  gross  and  palpable  errors."  And  the  sentence  you 
give  from  Field,  simply  declares  that  "  the  holy  Bible  is,  in  each  passage,  to  be 
explained  according  to  the  analogy  of  faith,"  and  "  the  general  practice  of  the  church," 
in  her  purest  times. 

You  quote  Dr.  Field  as  favoring  your  heresy  ;  of  course  you  will  be  pleased  with  the 
following,  out  of  the  same  book  you  quote  :  "  The  pope  is  above  general  councils  ;  and 
he  is  not  above  them;  the  pope  may  err  judicially ;  the  pope  cannot  err  judicially;  the 
pope  is  temporal  lord  of  all  the  world ;  the  pope  is  not  temporal  lord  of  all  the,  &c.  The 
virgin  Mary  was  conceived  in  sin;  she  was  not  conceived  in  sin.  If  there  be  no  con- 
tradiction here,  then  all  Roman  priests  declare  the  same  doctrine  !" 

You  also  quoted  Bullinger,  folio  71,  72,  cap.  1-5,  and  the  author  of  "  Scripture  and 
the  church,"  with  Hooker,  sec.  xiv.  p.  86.  These  teach  us,  you  justly  say,  that  "the 
church  of  God  is  endued  with  the  spirit;"  and  that  "we  could  not  believe  the  gospel 
were  it  not  that  the  church  taught  us,  and  witnessed  that  this  doctrine  was  delivered  by 
the  apostles."  Luther,  on  John  xvii.  also  says  that  "  if  he  had  not  received  the  word  of 
God  from  the  Catholic  church,  he  should  have  known  nothing  about  it." 

These  exhibit  the  sentiments  of  all  the  Reformed  churches  respecting  one  branch  of 
the  evidence  of  divine  truth  ;  that  is  tradition  and  testimony  of  the  church ;  the  holy 
Catholic  church.  But  you  have,  as  usual,  fallen  into  a  very  natural  and  selfish  error. 
These  writers  say  the  church  of  God — the  Catholic  church  did  this  :  they  did  not  once 
say  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  And  it  was  sheer  bigotry  that  dragged  you  into 
the  error.  It  is  time,  in  all  conscience,  that  you  learned  to  know  the  immeasurable 
difference  between  these  two  societies, — The  Holy  Catholic  Church  of  God,  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  church  of  the  pope ! 

5.  I  noticed  not  your  former  remark  on  the  character  of  Luther ;  and  I  was  un- 
willing to  be  drawn  aside  from  the  main  argument :  besides,  this  is  personal  abuse, 
not  argument.  But  were  even  Luther  and  Calvin,  and  other  reformers,  the  mon- 
sters you  wisti  to  represent  them,  this  affects  not  the  question  in  discussion.  We 
never  made  these  men  our  living,  speaking  rule  !  I  quoted  your  profane  popes  and 
heretical  councils,  quite  in  point;  and  also  the  errors  and  divisions  of  "  Holy  Mother 
church,"  for  the  best  reasons  in  the  world.  These  you  make  your  living,  speak- 
ing, and  infallible  rule  !  Surely,  if  I  demonstrate  the  errors  and  heresies  of  your 
infallible  judges,  I  annihilate  your  rule.  But  as  our  rule  is  the  scriptures,  and  our 
judge  of  controversy,  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  in  them,  not  as  understood  by  "pri- 
vate interpretation,"  but  as  interpreted  by  God,  speaking  in  them  to  us,  surely  all 
your  invectives  against  the  Reformers  are  utterly  irrelevant  matter.  But  since  you 
stoop  so  low  as  to  reiterate  these  personalities,  I  shall  vindicate  these  Reformers  here. 
Gentlemen,  you  furnish  us  another  proof,  that  a  Roman  priest  cannot  breathe,  nor 
eat,  nor  drink,  nor  exist,  without  slandering  good  old  Luther,  and  the  other  worthie* 
of  the  Reformation!  It  has  been  their  very  aliment  to  slander  them.  This  gloriom 
and  splendid  achievement  of  the  Reformers,  owned  and  blessed  of  Almighty  God,  in 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 


25 


giving  civil  and  religious  liberty,  as  well  as  pure  Christianity,  to  every  nation  of  Eu- 
rope, who  would  embrace  it,  has  ever  been  painful  and  mortifying  to  your  sect. 
Their  name  seems  to  inflict  pain  on  a  priest's  and  on  a  monk's  heart,  as  acutely  as  when 
the  steel  touches  the  bare  nerve  !  Do  you  remember  the  saying  of  your  own  Eras- 
mus?    What  made  the  Romish  priests  so  malignant  against  Luther,  was  this: "he 

touched  the  pope's  crown  and  the  priest's  belly!" 

You  asserted  that  Luther  rejected  the  epistle  of  James,  and  that  to  the  Hebrews. 
This  I  solemnly  deny ;  and  every  theologian  knows  that  your  assertion  is  false  !  If 
you  really  knew  no  better,  it  was  inexcusable  in  you  to  write  on  the  subject :  if  yon 
did  know  what  I  have  now  asserted,  it  displays  a  criminal,  but  powerless  attempt  to 
injure  the  hero  of  the  reformation,  whose  fame  is  increasing  every  year !  The  truth 
is  this  :  when  Luther  was  yet  half  a  monk,  and  had  his  eyes  only  half  opened  to  the 
light  of  protestant  truth,  "  he  spoke  lightly"  of  James's  Epistle.  But  afterwards, 
when  he  became  a  thorough  divine,  he  advocated  that  epistle,  as  well  as  all  the  rest. 
See  Home's  Introd.  vol.  iv.  p.  412,  note.  And  they  were  accordingly  inserted  by 
him  in  the  canon. 

Some  time  ago,  a  slander  was  thrown  out  by  a  Romish  priest,  in  the  Protestant 
Association.  But  it  met  with  a  detection,  and  caused  no  enviable  feelings  to  the 
slanderer.  He  asserted  that  he  had  a  quotation  from  Luther's  own  works,  in  which 
that  Reformer  is  made  to  confess,  that  "  he  had  been  an  impure,  wicked,  and  licen- 
tious man."  But,  as  usual,  in  Roman  Catholic  quotations  by  priests,  the  quoter 
stopped  short  in  the  middle  of  Luther's  sentiment.  And  how  was  the  slanderer  con- 
founded when  he  was  helped,  by  a  skilful  accoucheur,  a  friend  of  mine,  to  dehver  him- 
self of  the  rest  of  the  sentence! — namely:  "All  this  I  was,"  says  Luther,  "while  I 
was  a  Roman  Catholic  and  a  monk  ;  but  now  I  am,  by  the  grace  of  God,  what  I  am!" 

I  would  call  the  attention  of  the  Lutheran  church  to  a  valuable  work  which  some  of 
their  learned  men  should  give  to  the  public  in  English,— I  mean  Dr.  Melchior  Nicho- 
las's Vindication  of  Martin  Luther,  published  by  professor  Wolfflin,  of  the  college  of 
Tubingen,  A.  D.  1663.  He  records  the  seven  chapters  of  slander  against  Luther,  by 
the  Jesuit  Forerus;  and  gives  a  triumphant  refutation  of  each  one  of  them.  Every 
thing  which  my  opponents  copy  out  of  Mamford,  relative  to  Luther,  I  find  extracted 
from  Forerus — stripped  of  his  decency,  and  modernized  by  vulgarity. 

In  a  particular  manner  is  the  slander  refuted,  that  Luther  admitted  himself  to  have 
been  a  pupil  of  the  devil,  in  his  sentiments  touching  the  mass !  The  amount  of  the 
affair  is  this :  Luther  was,  on  a  time,  tempted  to  despair  of  divine  mercy  ;  the  thoughts 
that  rushed  in  upon  his  distracted  mind,  he  conceived  to  be  the  immediate  su<ygestions 
of  the  devil.  And  the  devil  tempted  him  to  this  despair  by  this  thoui^ht :  "  How  can 
there  be  hope  for  you,  a  wretch,  who  celebrated  the  aboniimible  mass  for  no  less  than 
ffteen  years  /"  This  is  all  that  Satan  is  supposed,  by  the  priests,  to  have  taught 
Luther.  But  it  was,  in  fact,  his  own  illumined  conscience,  lashed  into  horror,  at 
the  retrospect  of  the  horrid  iniquity  of  celebrating  the  infamous  mass,  and  sustaining 
popery  so  long ! 

The  immortal  Calvin  is  another  of  the  Reformers  honored  by  the  outpouring  of 
your  vials  of  slander  on  him.  And  you  have  revived  the  malignant  fictions  of  the 
notorious  Bolsec  relative  to  the  character  and  actions  of  John  Calvin.  It  is  true, 
no  one  of  you  believes  these  books  of  monkish  fables.  There  has  not  lived  the  priest, 
yet,  who  has  believed  his  own  writings  on  this  matter  J  Every  one  of  you  has  the 
means  of  knowing  them  to  be  sheer  fictions,     I  should  be  guilty  of  insulting  the 

4 


26  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

understandings,  and  the  consciences  of  my  three  opponents,  did  I  even  insinuate  tha4 
they  did,  themselves,  beheve  them!  But  it  is  unmanly,  and  highly  criminal  in  men 
of  letters  aud  taste,  to  feed  the  vile  appetite  of  slantier,  among  a  degraded  and  igno- 
rant community,  "  the  simple  faithful,"  who  cannot  read,  and  who  think,  and  believt, 

by  sacerdotal  proxy. 

"  I'd  sooner  be  a  dog,  and  bay  the  moon 
Than  such  a  Roman  f" 

And,  gentlemen,  the  notorious  Bolsec  was  the  very  last  man  that  the  sons  of  "Holy 
Mother"  should  quote.  He  was,  as  you  well  know,  an  apostate  Carmelite  monk,  who 
died  under  the  ban  of  your  church  :  and  so  proffhgate  that  he  gave  his  wife  to  be  a 
prostitute  to  the  holy  canons  of  Autun,  to  regain  the  Catholics'  favor.  He  was  a  mis- 
creant hired  to  slander  Calvin  and  Beza.  And,  you  are  fully  aware  that  this  was 
his  infamous  character.  See  Lemprier,  article  Bolsec.  None  but  such  men  as  Bolsec 
can  breathe  slander  over  the  memory  of  such  an  accomplished  scholar,  and  trans- 
cendant  divine ! 

No  one  of  the  Reformers  has  escaped  the  poisoned  breath  of  your  revenge.  Your 
church  has  her  ^'Records  of  judgments  on  heretics.''^  This  is  the  register  of  our 
canonized  worthies.  Priest  Hamilton  stands  first  in  the  fetes  of  slander  :  Laing  writes 
what  he  calls  ''the  miserable,  horrible,  detestable,  and  execrable  deaths''  of  Luther,  Cal- 
vin, and  other  heretics!  The  Scottish  catholics  gravely  assure  us  that  Jo^n  Knox's 
head,  before  he  expired,  was  converted  miraculously  into  a  dog's  head,  with  its  face 
turned  backwards!  Hamilton  does  not  make  the  miracle  quite  so  striking.  "The 
opening  of  John  Knox's  mouth,  while  dying,"  says  he,  very  giavely,  "was  drawn 
out  to  such  a  length  of  deformity,  that  his  face  resembled  that  of  a  dog,  as  his  voice  did 
the  barking  of  that  animal !"  Laing  says  :  "  He  had  communings  with  the  devil,  who 
at  last  carried  him  off  bodily !"  "  Not  exactly  so,"  said  priest  Hamilton, — "  when  his 
friends  came  into  his  chamber,  they  found  his  dead  body  lying  prostrate  on  the 
floor !" 

\Vlien  priests  have  the  audacity  to  fabricate  such  a  fate  for  John  Knox,  who  died 
in  the  presence  of  his  family  and  friends,  and  closed  a  brilliant  career,  by  a  most 
triumphant  death — what  will  you  not  fabricate  of  those  who  die  in  your  hands,  and 
beneath  your  power  I 

Lastly  : — You  resuscitate  the  brutal  invectives  against  the  Waldenses,  the  faithful 
descendants  of  the  primitive  and  apostolical  church,  in  the  vallies  of  Piedmont,  and 
Bohemia.  "These,"  say  you,  "were  the  enemies  of  order,  and  of  the  human  race. 
These  "  primitive  christians,"  believed  that  there  were  two  gods,  one  good,  the  other 
bad.  They  despised  the  Old  Testament  as  the  book  of  the  devil.  They  held  marriage 
to  be  unlawful  without  considering  chastity  a  virtue  !  Such  M'cre  the  execrable  tenets 
of  the  Albigenses  which  they  propagated,  hke  Mahomet,  by  plunder,  rapine,  fire  and 
sword." 

Ah!  gentlemen,  "Old  Mother  Church  "  has  lost  none  of  her  ancient  virulence ; 
although  "by  age,  she  is  becoming  feeble  and  toothless :  and  as  Livy  has  finely  said — 
"  Vana  sine  viribus  ira  est."  The  world  is  not  to  be  for  ever  covered  with  darkness ; 
and  a  perpetual  prey  to  impostors.  Late  extensive  and  learned  researches,  have 
thrown  a  clear  hght  over  the  aspersed  characters  of  those  holy  martyrs  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  ignorant  and  obscure  writers  you  quote,  together  with  IMosheim,  and  a  few  other 
Protestants  who  permitted  themselves  to  be  imposed  on  by  Roman  inquisitors,  are  no 
more  to  be  relied  on  for  the  character  of  the  Waldenses,  than  would  the  records  of  the 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  27 

Jews,  who  murdered  our  Lord,  be  relied  on  for  His  character.  What  candid  man 
would  believe  the  murderous  i^iuisitors'  character  of  our  dear  brethren,  the  martyrs ! 
Who  would  believe  the  Roman  slanders  of  our  dear  brethren,  the  primitive  christians ! 

But  it  so  happens  that  we  have  the  most  ample  testimony  to  refute  the  slander 
perpetrated  at  Rome  against  the  Waldenses,  and  unblushingly  perpetuated  by  every 
Romish  priest,  even  in  this  enlightened  age  ! 

These  primitive  christians  believed  in  the  one  living  and  true  God,  and  the  Trinity : 
they  were  not  Manicheans :  they  held  not  the  doctrine  of  an  evil  god,  ecjual  to  a  good 
one :  they  received  all  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament ;  and  rejected  the 
Apocrypha;  they  held  marriage  to  be  lawful  in  minister  and  layman;  they  were 
firm  believers  in  all  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  as  exhibited  in  our  creeds  and  canons; 
they  were  a  chaste  and  devout  christian  people. 

I  refer  you  to  Jones'  Church  History,  re-published  in  New  York,  in  1824.  In  vol. 
ii.  p.  41,  &c.,  you  will  find  a  copy  of  two  of  the  ancient  Waldensian  Couftssions  of 
Faith,  and  a  full  exhibition  of  their  character  and  history.  I  beg  to  refer  you  also  to 
Gilly's  "  WaUhnsicm  Researches,  with  an  introductory  inquiry  into  the  antiquity  and 
purity  of  the  Waldensian  church,"  published  in  London,  1831. 

Dr.  AUix  who  has  investigated  this  subject  deeply  and  accurately,  says, — "  I  defy 
the  impudence  of  the  devil  himself  to  find  in  the  writings  of  the  Waldenses  the  least 
shadow  of  Manicheism !"  And  every  scholar  now  admits  that  the  erroneous  state- 
ments of  Mosheim  and  Limborch  have  originated  in  their  implicitly  following  the 
Romish  inquisitors  on  this  subject.  As  for  Robinson,  he  Avreaks  his  vengeance  on 
them  because  he  found  them  too  orthodox  to  be  Socinians !  See  Allix's  Remarks  on 
the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  188,  191,  and  Jones'  Ch.  Hist.  vol.  ii.  ch.  5. 

And  if  you  prefer  the  testimony  of  Roman  Catholics,  I  refer  you  to  Florimond  de 
Remund's  Hist,  de  la  Heresie,  liv.  vii.  chap.  7.  He  calls  them  the  "  first  Luthe- 
rans" as  in  all  important  points,  they  agree  with  the  Reformers.  "  They  have  nothing 
in  their  mouths  but  Christ,  the  Saviour,"  says  he,  "  and  they  know  nothing  else  than 
Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  ignorance,  gross,  and  almost  essential  to  the  Vandois  heretics 
revived  in  this  age  &c."  "  Having  the  Bible  translated,  these  poor  people  read  it 
continually,  in  such  a  manner  that  they  know  all  the  books  of  it  by  heart." 

Hear  a\so  Thuanus,  Historia;  lib.  xxvii.  cap.  9.  temp.  Carrol.  IX.  "Nee  quenquam 
&c.  Nor  can  one  usually  find  even  a  boy  among  them  who  being  interrogated  rela- 
tive to  the  faith  he  professes,  cannot  promptly  and  from  memory,  give  a  reason,  &c." 
And  he  quotes  Wicliflf,  Huss,  and  Jerome,  as  being  precisely  of  their  opinions.  See 
the  London  Prot.  Journal,  for  18.31,  p.  718. 

But  what  is  more,  we  have  the  testimony  of  two  inquisitors.  The  one  was  Reinerius, 
who  published  a  catalogue  of  the  Waldensian  errors.  Dr.  AUix  has  given  us  the  Latin 
copy  of  this,  p.  188,  &.c.  The  other  intiuisitor's  testimony  you  will  find  in  Hist. 
Scrip.  Bohem.  p.  222;  and  in  AUix,  p.  211.  Sesselius,  your  archibishop  of  Turin, 
lived  in  the  very  heart  of  Piedmont,  and  was  a  violent  persecutor  of  these  christians. 
He  wrote  a  narrative  of  their  opinions  sometime  before  the  Reformation. 

All  these  show  the  existence,  in  an  ancient  flourishing  church,  of  the  very  sentiments 
and  doctrines  of  Luther,  and  of  Calvin.  In  reading  Sesselius'  extract  from  the  Wal- 
densian confessions,  you  would  imagine  him  quoting  from  the  pages  of  Calvin!  But 
Calvin's  name  was  not  then  even  heard  of.  And  yet  the  Roman  Catholics  ask  us, 
"  where  was  your  religioK^befort  Luther  ?"  See  Jones  ii.  p.  35 — 41.  But  what  crowns 
the  whole,  we  have  the  testimony  of  one  of  your  '  iafallibles ;'  I  mean  iEueas  SilviuB 


28  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

afterwards  pope  Piu3  ii.  It  is  found  in  his  Historia  Bohemia,  p.  141.  And  if  this  is 
not  in  your  reach,  you  will  find  copious  extracts  in  Jones'  Church  Hist.  ii.  p.  19 — 41. 
From  the  statements  of  their  bitterest  foes,  therefore,  as  well  as  their  friends,  it  is  a  matter 
of  historical  record,  that  the  agreement  between  these  primitive  apostolical  christians, 
and  the  Reformers,  on  the  various  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  was  strictly  uniform  and 
exact ! 

I  shall  for  the  present,  leave  this,  and  when  we  come  to  the  sanguinary  marks  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  church,  under  the  article  Persecution,  we  shall  rehearse  a  tale  of 
woe,  not  equalled  in  history,  perhaps  ;  nor  surpassed  in  fiction  !  I  allude  to  the  horrid 
massacre,  and  extermination  of  the  Waldenses,  by  Pope  Innocent  VIII.  and  his  fero- 
cious priesthood ! 

The  Jews  of  old  bewailed  the  deeds  of  their  ancestors,  and  said,  "Had  we  lived  in 
the  days  of  our  fathers,  we  would  not  have  slain  the  prophets."  And  they  garnished 
the  sepulchres  of  the  martj-^red  holy  ones  i  But,  alas  !  in  this  enlightened  age,  the  less 
humane  priests  of  Rome  do  not  only  refuse  to  garnish  the  tombs  of  the  martyred 
Waldenses  and  Albigenses;  but  they  breathe  the  poisoned  breath  of  cruel  slander 
over  their  sacred  ashes !  In  the  vindictive  attributes  they  have  been  always  immu- 
table. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  yours,  &c. 

W.  C.  B. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PRIESTS'  LETTER  III. 

'  There  is  another  class  of  distinctionists,  the  class  of  operative  religionists.  Many  of  its 
members,  leagued  to  a  more  than  common  share  of  the  cuise  entailed  on  the  children  of 
Adam,  toiling  in  the  '  sweat  of  their  brow,'  and  pack  horses  to  the  interior  spirit,  have 
orudged  through  the  'Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  " 

"  Our  ambition  is  limited  to  ene — to  Doctor  Brownlee,  a  Preacher  in  the  Middle  Dutch 
Church.  His  name  in  itself  a  host,  is  more  than  ample  matter  to  impart  the  lustre  of  embel- 
lishment to  our  remarks.  His  letters,  and,  oh,  ye  members  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church, 
his  powers  of  ratiocination  !  Theological  in  his  matter,  logical  in  his  proof,  invincible  in  his 
arguments,  rigid  in  his  references,  definite  in  his  terms,  classical  in  his  phrases,  solid  in  his 
scripture  texts,  happy  in  his  quotations, — did  the  old  Stagirite  return  to  earth  he  would  shun 
an  encounter  I — Gentle  in  his  words,  courteous  in  his  allusions, /asfw/iows  in  his  compliments." 

"Your  first  letters  are  merely  illustrative  of  your  powers  o£  ' squinting ;^ — the  last  is 
direct,  unerring  vision;— the  completion  of  cool,  logical,  and  theological  argument.  To  aid 
our  readers,  and  specially  the  members  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  in  the  apphcation  of 
this  direct  and  unerring  vision,  the  demands  expressed  in  our  former  letters,  are  a  third 
time  rf  p  ated.  You,  Rev.  Sir,  have  not  yet  answered  them.  Excuse  the  iteration.  Pardon 
our  adl  er  jnce  to  singleness  of  object.  "  Tell  us  how  you  know  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of 
God?  How  do  you  know  which  books  were  written  by  Divine  inspiration?  Does  the 
Bible  contain  the  whole  word  of  God,  or  does  it  not?" 

"Were  it  not  reducing  you  to  the  innocent  simplicity  of  infancy,  we  should  consign  you 
to  the  nursery  to  be  rocked  to  the  old  lullaby,  "  see  saw,  Magery  Duav."  Is  it  thus  a 
man  acquainted  widi  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost'  establishes  his  rule  of 
faith !     Is  this  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  favorite  !" 

"Your  reasons,  Rev.  Sir,  for  this  inquisitorial  decree?  Is  it  because  the  interior  spirit 
does  not  speak  through  your  letters?  Are  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Gho»t,' 
less  gifted  with  infallibility  than  your  writings  ?" 

"  Here  there  is  a  promise  urbanely  expressed  to  the  ear,  but,  oh  how  broken  to  the  hope  ! 
The  Bible  is  not  yet  proved  to  be  the  word  of  God,  and  yet,  in  the  same  letter  from  whicfe 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC   CONTROVERSY.  fBBh 

the  preceding  passage  is  taken,  you  invoke  the  interior  spirit  to  the  interpretation  of  five 
scripture  texts  to  prove  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible.  This  is  a  ludicrous  specimen  of  the 
nursery  see  saw  logic,"  &c. 

"  The  interior  spirit,  is  tasked  to  prove  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  is  used 
to  prove  the  right  of  the  interior  spirit.  You  insist  on  the  Bible  being  the  only  rule  of  faith  ; 
that  each  individual,  no  matter  how  gross  or  uncultivated  in  mind,  possesses  the  right  to 
adopt  that  sense  of  scripture  which  appears  to  him  the  best  according  with  truth;  that  God 
has  promised  the  illumination  necessary  to  discover  this  accordance  with  truth,  and,  yet, 
all  this  you  pretend  to  prove  from  scripture  texts,  ere  the  scripture  is  proved  to  be  the  word 
of  God!" 

"  As  the  import  of  this  modest  and  inspired  extract,  though  not  in  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  may  be  interesting  to  the  members  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  we 
present  it  to  them  in  English.  'This  is  my  will,  this  is  my  command.  Let  my  will  be 
reason,'  So  Luther  commands,  and  he  proclaims  himself  a  doctor  pre-eminent  above  all 
the  doctors  of  the  entire  papacy.  Therefore  the  w  ord  alone  shall  remain  in  my  New 
Testament  *****  though  all  the  popish  asses  should  run  rabid,  they  shall  not 
remove  it." 

"  Bishop  Hare  says,  '  The  orthodox  faith  does  not  depend  upon  the  scriptures,  considered 
absolutely  in  themselves,  but  as  explained  by  Catholic  tradition.'" 

Note. — This  episcopal  prelate  does  not  say  Romax   Catholic  tradition. 

"The  famous  Dudith  in  his  epistle  to  Beza,  says,  'If  that  be  the  truth,  which  the  ancient 
Fathers  have,  with  one  accord  professed,  it  must  be  owned,  that  this  truth,  will  be  wholly 
on  the  papists  side.' — See  Brerely's  Protestant  Apology.  Now,  Rev.  Sir,  the  most  learned 
Protestants  acknowledge,  that  we  have  the  holy  scriptures  on  the  authority  of  the  Catholic 
church,  nay,  on  the  authority  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  fc  r  Dudith  says,  that  all  the  ancient 
Fathers,  are  on  '  the  side  of  the  papists ;'  and  your  favorite  Middleton  says,  '  that  he  pities 
the  Protestants  when  lie  sees  them  struggling  to  reconcile  the  Fathers  to  the  reformation.'  " 

Note. — Every  one  who  knows  the  corruptions  introduced  into  the  Fathers,  by  the  monks 
of  the  dark  ages;  Avliereby  modern  popery  is  awkwardly  tagged  to  the  primitive  writers,  will 
cordially  unite  with  Dudith  and  Middleton. 

The  above  quoted  Brercly,  together  with  Knot  and  others,  were  notorious  for  their  mis- 
representations ;  and  hence  they  Avere  prime  auxiliaries  of  Jlilner  in  his  "  End  of  Contro- 
versy."    We  go  on  wath  extracts : — 

"  Where  then  is  3'our  infallibility  1"  It  is  seated,  says  Holy  Mother,  in  all  my  Bishops  and 
Pastors  throughout  the  whole  world,  professing  the  same  doctrine,  and  united  in  faith  and 
communion  w  ith  their  supreme  pastor,  the  bishop  of  Rome.  It  also  resides  in  a  o-eneral 
council,  at  which  the  pope  is  present ,  either  in  person  or  by  his  legates,  after  it  is  confirmed 
by  the  pope  himself.  This  is  an  article  of  faith  wherein  all  Catholics  agree.  See  Suares 
de  fide  p.  5.  sec.  7.  No.  9.  You  now  know  where  to  find  my  infallibility,  and  on  this  subject 
you  will  discover  no  difference  of  opinion  among  my  children." 

"  The  3rd  council  of  Carthage,  held  in  the  year  397,  examined  the  tradition  of  the  church, 
with  regard  to  those  books  about  which  there  was  any  doubt,  or  difierence  of  opiuion,  and 
found  all  the  books  recommended  in  our  canon.  In  the  47th  canon,  the  council  defines  our 
books  to  be  canonical,  saying,  '  we  received  from  our  fathers,  that  these  books  are  to  be  read 
in  the  Church.'" 

To  the  above  quotation,  I  shall  subjoin  the  idea  of  our  priests,  as  Milner,  their  champion, 
expresses  it. 

"  It  was  not  until  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  that  the  genuine  canon  of  scripture  was 
fixed:  and  then  it  was  fixed  by  the  tradition  and  autliority  of  the  church,  declared  in  the  third 
council  of  Carthage,  and  decretal  of  Pope  Innocent  I."  He  then  quotes  "the  most  learned 
protestants," — as  Luther,  Hooker,  Chillingworth ;  with  St.  Augustine,  as  teaching  this. 


4  • 


3(1  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

LETTER  IV. 

TO    DOCTORS   POWER,    VARELA,    AND    MR.    LEVINS. 

"  Every  word  of  God  is  pure." — "  Add  thou  not  unto  his  words,  lest  he  reprove  thee,  and 
thou  be  found  a  Liar  !" 

Rev.  Gentlemen: — I  shall  not  follow  Mr. Levins  over  the  field  of  his  polluting 
effusions.  The  above  extracts  are  a  specimen  of  your  last  letter :  they  carry  their 
answer  along  with  them.  It  is  true,  I  do  write  for  "  the  members  of  the  Middle 
Dutch  Church."  And  "  the  members  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,"  are  very  dif- 
ferent people  from  the  flocks  of  St.  Patrick's  pastor!  One  naturally  adapts  himself 
to  the  climate  and  society  in  which  he  lives ! 

I  have  already  stated  the  rule  of  faith  held  by  the  church  of  Christ,  resting,  as  it 
does,  on  the  rock  of  eternity  :  and  that  held  by  your  church,  professing  to  be 
built  on  St.  Peter. 

It  must  be  obvious  to  every  one  who  has  studied  Romish  authors,  that  no  Roman 
priest  will  have  candor  enough  to  honor  our  definitions,  as  we  give  them.  The  Pro- 
testant churches  never  have  said  that  their  rule  of  faith  is  the  scriptures,  as  received  by 
every  one,  by  private  interpretation.  This  is  a  sheer  interpolation  by  the  priests,  who 
defend  their  cause  by  this  perversion.  The  Holy  Spirit  speaking  unto  us  is  the 
RULE  AND  judge  ;  and  it  is  to  be  received  as  He  interprets  it  to  us,  in  his  plain,  sim- 
ple, and  perspicuous  words.  We  exercise  the  right  of  ^^  private  judgment,''''  and 
"liberty  of  conscience."  But  that  '■'■  private  judgment,''''  does  not  constitute  the  Rule. 
Hereby,  as  rational  beings,  we  are  put  into  the  possession  of  the  means  and  faculties 
of  studying  and  finding  out  the  mind  and  will  of  God. 

It  is  one  of  the  vexatious  diflficulties  which  we  have  to  encounter  in  this  discus- 
sion, that  our  opponents  cannot  appreciate  the  meaning  and  force  of  certain  words, 
current  with  Protestants.  A  Roman  priest  can,  for  instance,  no  more  take  up  the  f 
meaning,  and  estimate  the  force  of  the  terms  "liberty  of  conscience,"  and  "private 
judgment,"  in  religious  matters,  than  "can  the  legitimate  tyrants"  of  Europe,  appre- 
ciate the  "  rights  and  privileges"  of  American  republicans !  Their  minds  have  never 
conceived  the  possibility  of  their  existence. 

It  was  never  contemplated  in  this  discussion,  to  convert  it  into  a  deistical  controversy. 
I  had  never  conceived  that  the  Roman  priests  would  so  boldly,  and  so  honestly,  come 
out  in  the  ranks  of  deism,  and  insist  on  making  it  an  indispensable  part  of  the  discus- 
sion, to  turn  aside  to  prove  the  inspiration  of  the  holy  Bible.  Yet,  so  it  is.  The 
New  York  priests  have  all  along  dogmatically  insisted  on  my  letting  their  infallible 
rule  alone  ;  and  in  confining  ourselves,  first  of  all,  to  the  proof  of  the  divine  inspira- 
tion of  the  scriptures. 

There  are  two  reasons  urging  them  on  to  this  course.  The  first  is,  that  they  are 
aware,  a^  we  shall  soon  show,  that  their  whole  system  touching  iu fallibility,  and 
their  "  infallible  rule,"  is  their  open  flank,  and  weak  side.  And  second,  the  main 
reason  is  this :  The  Roman  church  holds  this  dogma  as  the  basis  of  her  whole  sys- 
tem, "  the  inspiration  of  the  scriptures  relies  only  on  an  external  authority,  and  that  is 
the  authority  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church.''  My  opponents  express  this  in  their 
Letter  II.,  thus:  "  Were  the  deist  to  say  to  Dr.  Power,  Sir,  I  cannot  see  any  internal 
evidence  of  inspiration  in  the  holy  scriptures ;  Dr.  Power  would  say,  that  he  himself 
sees  no  such  evidence  of  their  inspiration ;  that  he  would  not  believe  the  scriptures 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  31 

unless  led  to  their  belief  by  the  Catholic  church ;  that  if  the  deist  would  follow  him 
into  the  Catholic  church,  he  would  show  him  the  evidence  of  the  inspiration  of  the 
scriptures."  Hence  it  is  a  very  prominent  tenet  in  their  infidel  system  that  the 
divine  inspiration  of  the  Bible  cannot  be  proved  but  by  the  word  and  authority  of 
"Holy  Mother!"  You  may  advance  all  that  has  ever  been  written  on  it,  yet  if 
you  do  not  yield  up  the  question  in  debate,  aud  fall  down  and  acknowledge  the  Roman 
goddess,  as  above  "all  that  is  called   God,  or  is  worshipped,"  they  raise  the  outcry, 

that  you  have  not  touched  the  point.     "  Yield  me  all  I  want,"  cries  the  Priest, "  or 

you  shun  the  whole  (piestion,  and  know  nothing  about  logic,  or  theology."  And, 
moreover,  when  we  have  such  anthropoi  alogoi,  "  unreasonable  men,"  as  Mr.  Levins 
to  deal  with,  whose  Inishowen  inspirations  render  him  unfit  to  take  up  a  solid  argu- 
ment, one  gets  heartily  "blackguarded,"  to  the  bargain! 

Now,  we  have  discussed  the  proofs  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  and  shown  that 
it  is  established  perfectly  by  its  own  internal  evidence,  and  by  external  proofs,  such  as 
miracles,  tongues,  prophecies  ;  and  by  historical  evidence,  and  tradition  also  ;  as  that  of 
tlie  Hebrews  and  Jews  "to  wliom  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God  ;"  and  by  the 
church  at  Jerusalem;  and  by  the  church  at  Antioch  ;  by  the  whole  Greek  churches; 
by  the  apostolical  church  of  the  Waldenses,  and  by  the  church  of  Rome.  All  these 
were  checks,  mutually,  on  each  other ;  and  all  handed  down  the  holy  scriptures  to  pre- 
sent times. 

There  never  was  exhibited  such  another  master-piece  of  ghostly  assurance  and 
impudence,  as  that  of  the  Romish  church,  in  pouring  contempt  on  the  churches  of 
the  East, — say  of  Antioch,  and  all  the  Greek  church,  far  more  ancient  than  herself, 
and  far  purer;  and  also  on  all  other  branches  of  the  church:  and  of  claiming  the 
exclusive  honor  of  handing  down  the  Bible  by  tradition. 

The  Romish  rule  of  faith  we  also  stated ;  it  is  this, — "  the  infallible  scriptures, 
with  the  apocryphal  books,  and  oral  traditions,  with  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
Greek  and  Latin  fiithers ;  and  all  as  explained  by  the  infallible  head,  the  Pope  or  a 
council,  or  the  church,  a  pope  and  council.  "The  Bible,"  or  "infallible  rule" 
of  the  Romish  church,  in  a  word,  is  large  enough  to  load  four  carts  heavily ;  besides 
all  their  traditions.  And  then  the  "pope,"  or  "council,"  or  "  church,"  is  mounted 
on  them  as  the  "infallible  judge  and  interpreter." 

We  are  now  prepared  to  go  on  with  our  dissection  of  this  rule.  The  whole 
Roman  system,  as  it  is  evident  from  history,  scripture,  and  dear  bought  experience,  is 
a  cunningly  devised  scheme  to  gain,  not  the  salvation  of  souls  :  she  who  is  "drunk 
with  the  blood  of  the  saints,"  has  no  anxiety  about  the  salvation  of  souls;  but  to  gain 
unbounded  civil  power,  and  wealth  for  Peter's  purse.  And  as  a  preparatory  step  to 
this,  she  seeks  to  gain  a  complete  ghostly  power  over  the  souls  and  consciences  of  her 
crushed  and  trodden  down  victims.  Hence  we  are  taught  where  to  seek  for  the 
originating  cause  of  her  adojjting  not  God's  holy  word,  but  this  rule  as  the  ^^  infallible 
Tuhy  The  question,  with  its  devisers  and  inventors,  was  not,  what  has  God  spoken  ? 
Wliat  is  ms  word?  But  it  was  this  : — what  is  best  adapted  to  achieve  promptly  the 
consummation  of  our  scheme  of  sj)iritual  subjugation: — and,  thence,  the  temporal 
power  over  the  souls,  and  bodies,  and  possessions  of  all  men  ! 

Chillinsworth  furnished  us,  in  our  last  letter,  with  the  true  origin  of  this  Romish 
rule.  This  writer  is,  on  our  side  of  the  Romish  controversy,  what  Homer  was  among 
:ihe  ancient  poets ;  and  Demosthenes  was  among  the  orators.  And  yet  my  Inis- 
howen friend,  Mr.  Levins  gravely  quotes  this  Protestant  Hercules  as  actually  favor- 
ing your  heresy ! 


32  ROMAN  CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

An  asylum  for  the  cure  and  prevention  of  polemical  phrenzy,  and  literary  knaveryf 
has,  I  believe,  not  yet  been  contemplated.  But  no  man  will  hesitate  to  say  that 
such  an  institution  would  be  infinitely  more  merciful,  and  useful,  than  all  your  mo- 
nasteries and  nunneries  ! 

According  to  Chillingworth,  this  is  the  precise  attitude  of  the  pope,  and  the  Roman 
Catholic  church,  before  the  world.  That  thing,  be  it  pope,  or  council,  or  pope  and 
council,  or  "  Mother  Church,"  in  which  infallibility  is  lodged,  does  in  a  condescending 
manner,  take  the  Holy  One  and  his  blessed  word,  under  its  special  protection : 
bestows  on  the  Bible  its  inspiration,  and  all  its  authority :  claims  the  uncontrolled  right 
of  explaining  it  to  all  men's  consciences :  and  of  adding  new  doctrines,  and  even  new 
sacraments;  it  appoints  its  own  devoted  priesthood,  as  "the  other  god  upon  earth," 
as  Mussus,  bishop  of  Bitonto  said  :  it  doles  out  a  portion  of  the  infallible  interior  spirit 
to  each  priest,  for  the  defence  of  the  scarlet  woman  of  St.  John  :  and  brings  every  thing 
into  market,  for  money,  even  souls,  and  bodies  of  men ;  and  each  sin,  at  the  staple 
price  of  the  Pope's  exchequer  book.  It  avails  itself  of  the  aid  of  the  Bible,  when  it 
can  be  gracefully  bent  to  its  way :  and  when  it  condemns  its  course,  or  is  silent,  it  puts 
it  on  the.  papal  rack,  and  tortures  it  into  an  utterance  of  what  it  wants  before  an  ignorant 
and  degraded  generation  of  men ! 

We  have  finished  our  first  two  arguments  against  the  Roman  Catholic  rule.  We 
showed  jirst,  that,  with  all  their  pretentions,  their  best  and  most  intelligent  writers 
cannot  tell  us  where  it  is  to  be  found.  They  all  admit  that  "  they  do  have  it;"  but 
they  cannot  tell  us  hoAv  to  come  at  it  I 

I  cannot  resist  an  appropriate  illustration  of  this  in  a  late  anecdote.  Patrick  O'B. 
was  attached  to  one  of  our  packets.  It  happened  that  while  Patrick  was,  in  his  vocation, 
washing  a  copper  kettle,  it  rolled  over  board  into  the  sea.  It  was  gone  in  a  moment. 
There  was  no  use  in  lamenting ;  he  could  not  recall  it.  He  made  his  way  directly  to 
the  cabin : — "  Captain,  can  a  thing  be  said  to  be  lost  when  we  know  where  it  is  ?" 
*' Certainly  not,  my  good  lad!"  replied  the  Captain,  "Well,  then,  by  St.  Patrick!" 
cried  our  cook, — "my  fine  copper  kettle  cannot  be  said  to  be  lost,  at  all :  for  I  know 
that  it  is  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea."  "  Holy  Mother's"  infallible  judge  is  precisely  in  the 
game  predicament !  But  who  shall  bring  it  up  and  make  it  visible  and  tangible !  Our 
seco7irf  argument  was  this  : — No  mortal  man,  pope  or  council  can  wield  this  same  rule, 
or  make  any  practicable  use  of  it.     We  shall  now  go  on  : — 

III.  Your  infallible  rule  can  never  he  found  out,  on  your  principles,  nor  employed  for  the 
bentft  of  man.  This  rule  must  have  been  established  by  Christ  for  the  benefit  of  all 
God's  moral  subjects ;  or  only  for  the  benefit  of  the  pope  and  his  clergy.  You  will 
scarcely  deny  that  God  designed  his  message  to  be  addressed  to  all  men."  Christ  says, 
— "  What  I  say  to  you,  I  say  to  all,  watch.''  "  He  that  hath  an  ear  let  him  hear  what 
the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches."  "Search  ye  the  Scriptures,  &c.  "Blessed  is  he 
thatreadeth,  and  they  that  hear,  &c. — You  will  hardly  venture  publicly  to  afiEirm  in 
this  enlightened  country,  that  God  has  committed  his  Holy  word  only  to  priests :  and 
that  the  most  immoral  and  polluted  priesthood  on  earth  can  be  the  sole  depository  of 
God's  pure  scriptures !  I  beg  your  pardon.  I  am  too  charitable :  you  have  openly 
avowed  this.  But  I  must  remind  you  that  the  assertion  of  a  criminal  who  has  abstracted, 
and  wasted  his  master's  goods,  is  not  a  witness  in  his  own  case  :  his  proofless  word 
passes  for  nothing.     Give  us  proof,  instead  of  your  assertions. 

Now,  how  must  those  who  are  to  receive  benefit  from  your  rule,  arrive  at  the  evidence 
of  the  fact  that  your  rule  is  the  only  infallible  one?  On  the  principles  you  hold,  no 
one  can  fijid  it  out.     You  condemn,  and  in  genuine  Romish  spirit,  you  even  ridiculd 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  3^ 

the  rights  of  private  judgment,  and  private  interpretation,  in  this  matter.     Now  apply 
your  own  argument  here,  and  you  will  see  whither  it  leads  you. 

You  atfirm  that  the  Holy  Bible  is  the  infallible  rule,  so  far  as  it  goes:  then  you  add 
the  Apocrypha;  and  a  chaotic  mass  of  traditions :  and  all  these  are  to  be  taken  according 
to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Fathers;  of  whom  any  two  are  scarcely  of  one  mind. 
How  go  you  to  work  here  ?  You  set  out  to  seek  this  rule  and  judge,  either  as  a  church, 
en  masse :  which  is  utterly  impossible.  Or  you  go  as  individuals  :  but  how  can  you  as 
individuals,  be  assured  of  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible;  of  the  genuine  traditions;  and 
of  the  consent  o^the  Fathers?  You  must  either  form  a  judgment  and  belief,  or  not.  If 
not,  then  there  is  no  faith.  If  you  do  form  a  belief  and  a  judgment,  then  mark  your 
dilemma,  you  do  by  private  Judgment,  and  by  private  interpretation,  determine,  yourself, 
that  this  is  the  rule  and  judge.  And  thus  you  do,  as  fallible  men,  by  private  judgment, 
determine  the  infallible  rule.  That  is  to  say,  private  judgment,  and  fallible  individu- 
als do  that  which  you  have  declared  they  never  can  do.  And,  hence,  in  determining 
your  rule,  you  overthrow  all  your  own  objections  against  ours. 

But  even  admiting  that  you  have,  by  private  and  fallible  judgment,  determined  the 
infallible  rule,  you  will  find  yourselves  no  nearer  the  end  of  your  difficulties  than 
before. 

Your  "  infallible  head,"  the  pope,  happens  to  be  a  mortal  and  erring  man.  Besides 
he  is  not  accessible,  except  to  only  a  few  in  Italy.  He  cannot  exhibit  truth,  and  decide 
controversies  in  every  chapel ;  in  every  house,  in  every  heart,  in  all  lands.  A  council 
can  do  no  better.  There  has  been  no  council  since  that  of  Trent.  And  the  ghost  of 
that  council  cannot  walk  the  earth,  and  enter  into  all  houses,  and  chapels,  and  hearts, 
in  all  lands ! — It  could  not  do  this,  were  it  even  now  in  session  at  Trent. 

*'  Holy  Mother  Church,"  can  act  no  better  part.  You  send  your  people  to  her  for 
the  true  infallible  rule.  Now  the  act  of  faith  is  thus  expressed  in  your  Douay  cate- 
chism ;  and  the  definition  is  a  curious  one  ;  it  embraces  the  sum  total  of  a  Papist'a 
faith  :  "  Great  God,  I  firmly  believe  all  those  sacred  truths  which  the  hoi}--  Catholic 
church  believes  and  teaches,  because  thou,  who  art  truth  itself,  hast  revealed  them. 
Amen!"  I  will  not  stop  to  remind  you  that  the  Mohammedan  belief  is  as  simple, 
namely  :  "  Thtre  is  one  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  And,  throughout  all 
Turkey,  there  is  much  more  unity  in  Mohamntedan  belief,  than  in  your  church.  But 
what  I  urge  on  your  attention,  is  this — the  ditBculty  is  not  removed  by  ihis  chicanery. 
"  Holy  church"  cannot  do  any  thing  better,  in  this  affair,  than  the  pope.  For  what 
is  "  holy  church  ?"  Roman  priests  do  not  even  agree  in  the  answer  to  this  question. 
Some  say  "  the  church,"  is  the  pope  and  his  clergy :  some  say  it  is  the  priesthood. 
You  and  Mr.  Hughes  seem  to  include  the  laity  with  the  priests,  and  so  make  it  "the 
people  and  their  pastors." 

But  here  is  the  difficulty ;  how  can  you  congregate  all  these  into  one  speaking 
rule  ?  How,  and  where,  can  the  simple  faithful  find  the  response  of  this  oracle  ? 
No  where  under  the  sun.  She  cannot  speak  and  judge  ;  the  faithful  cannot  hear  her 
voice  from  all  places  where  the  people  and  priests  are  scattered  abroad. 

Either  then,  the  faithful  flock  have  no  faith,  because  they  have  no  response  from 
this  oracle,  and  no  rule  ;  or  else  they  must  believe  hy  proxy ;  ^nd  not  only  so,  but 
truly  believe  that  of  which  they  have  no  knowledge  whatever  !  And  this  last  is  the 
alternative,  as  every  one  knows !  And  any  man  can  make  the  experiment  to  satisfy 
himself,  vs-ith  a  true  and  devoted  son  of  the  church.  Let  any  one  ask  a  Roman  Catho- 
lic who  follows  iTOphcitly  his  prjest, — ^' Pray,  what  is  your  belief?"  he  will  reply,, 


^  ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST. 

"I  believe  as  the  church  beUeves."  "Well,  what  does  the  church  believe?"  He 
will  say,  *'  hoJy  church  believes  as  I  believe."  "  But  what  do  you  and  the  church 
believe?"  "  Why,  arrah,  now  we  both  believe  exactly  the  same  thing!"  This  is 
the  uniform  answer ;  and  you  can  never  get  any  other  out  of  them,  for  the  best  reason 
in  the  world;  there  is  nothing  else  in  them!  And  what  is  much  worse,  by  the 
RULE,  and  the  priest's  influence,  nothing  else  is  allowed  to  enter  into  his  dark  and 
wofully  abused  mind.  ^^  Ignorance  is  the  mother  of  devotion !"  This  is  their  old  and 
tried  maxim. 

Finally,  shall  the  flock  be  sent  to  what  your  champion,  Dr.  Milner,  calls  "  the  whoh 
word  of  God,  tvritten  and  unwritten?''^  This,  as  I  have  said,  is  large  enough  to  load 
some  four  carts!  Having  found  these  135  folio  volumes,  and  the  unwritten  traditions, 
if  he  can,  the  simple  enquirer  is  no  nearer  the  end  of  his  difficulties.  For,  alas  i 
should  a  layman,  in  his  simplicity,  dare  to  take  it  on  him  to  use  his  private  judgment, 
and  reason,  and  make  a  mental  elibrt  to  find  out  his  Maker's  will,  and  the  holy  word 
speaking  to  him,  he  should  forthwith  have  the  ban  of  the  priest  pronounced  on  him. 
He  must  yield  up  his  conscience  and  his  soul,  simply  to  be  guided  by  the  pope  or 
council ;  that  is  to  say,  a  rule  and  a  judge  which  he  can  never  see,  and  never  discover  ! 

IV.  That  Christ  established  your  infallihle  rule,  in  his  church,  we  utterly  deny. 

The  Roman  Catholic  writers  have  here  exhibited  a  curious  specimen  of  logic,  in 
their  abortive  effbits  to  prove  that  Christ  established  their  Rule.  Milner,  in  his  End 
of  Controversy,  has  led  the  way ;  all  of  you  follow  after  him.  You  assert,  in  strong 
terms,  that  Christ  did  establish  your  rule,  and  gave  it  to  the  apostles :  that  you  are 
the  only  apostolical  successors  ;  and,  therefore,  you  only  have  that  rule  of  Christ, 
that  is  infallible. 

Now,  let  us  see  a  specimen  of  the  logic  and  proof.  Christ,  you  say,  established 
your  rule.  This  was  the  first  thing  to  be  proved ;  and,  let  us  not  loose  sight  of  the 
materials  of  this  rule.  If  Christ  ordained  your  rule,  then  he  gave  forth  by  inspi- 
ration, the  Apocrypha,  as  well  as  the  Bible  ;  then,  also,  he  ordained  by  inspiration, 
all  the  oral  traditions  of  your  church  ;  and  he  also  told  the  church,  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  that  he  gave  you  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  endlessly  contradicting  Fathers, 
as  a  part  of  that  rule,  and  that  he  appointed,  by  name  and  title,  the  pope,  or  coun- 
cil, or  the  church,  you  know  not  which,  as  the  only  infallible  judge. 

This  was  the  point  to  be  proved :  but  no  one  of  you  touches  it  except  by  asser- 
tion. Milner,  and  Hughes,  and  yourselves,  shift  completely  the  subject  to  be  proved. 
And,  instead  of  showing  that  Christ  ordained  the  materials  out  of  which  your  rule 
is  made,  you  labor  to  show  that  Christ  ordained  teaching  by  word  of  mouth. 
*■'  Christ,"  says  Hughes,  "  has  made  the  promise  of  infallibility  to  the  succession  of 
TEACHING  and  not  to  writing,  reading,  or  private  interpretation."  And  Milner,  in 
his  End  of  Controversy,  declares  that  Christ  sent  the  apostles  and  their  successors  to 
preach  the  gospel  by  word  of  mouth.  "  If,"  says  he,  "  Christ  had  intended  that  all 
men  should  learn  his  religion  from  a  book,  viz : — the  New  Testament,  he  would 
have  written  that  book  himself,  and  enjoined  the  obligation  of  learning  to  read  it, 
&c."  "  But,"  adds  this  Vicar  General  of  England,  with  unblushing  impiety  and 
infidelity,  "  Christ  ivrote  no  part  of  the  New  Testament  himself,  and  gave  no  orders 
to  his  apostles  to  write  it.''^     See  Letter  VI.,  &c.,  p.  63,  &c. 

Thus,  having,  on  the  principles  of  deism,  got  rid  of  the  written  word  of  God, 
although  in  contradiction  to  the  council  of  Trent,  which  admitted  the  inspriration  of 
the  holy  scriptures,  you  do,  by  a  dexterous  shifting  of  the  question,  make  this  teach* 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  35 

ing  by  word  of  mouth,  to  be  the  rule  established  by  Christ  in  his  church ;  and, 
being  established  by  him,  it  must  be  infallible. 

And  thus,  the  real  infallible  rule  of  Rome  is  abandoned,  without  proof,  to  its  fate. 
Instead  of  proving  the  inspiration  of  the  Apocrypha,  traditions,  and  the  consent  of  the 
Fathers,  and  the  divine  authority  of  the  pope,  they  very  gravely  set  to  work,  andtrv 
to  prove  that  the  "  infallibility  was  promised  to  teaching  by  word  of  mouth  !" 

But  were  it  possible  that  you,  gentlemen,  could  prove  the  infallibility  of  the  succes- 
sors of  the  apostles,  this  would  not  avail  you.     For, — 

V.  The  line  of  your  succession  is  entirely  broken  off,  both  as  it  regards  the  popes  and 
the  church. 

1.  The  succession  is  cut  off  from  Rome,  by  the  loss  of  the  essential  bond  oi  holiness, 
Christ  says,  "  Ye  are  my  friends  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you."  "Except  a 
man  be  born  of  the  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 
"  If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his."  This  is  the  essential 
doctrine  of  Christianity.  Hence  no  wicked  man,  no  infidel,  can  be  considered  a 
member  of  Christ's  church. 

But,  without  denying  that  there  are  individuals  who  are  true  christians  within  the  pale 
of  the  Romish  church,  we  do  assert  that,  as  a  church,  she  has  not  only  lost  this  badge 
of  holy  discip'e^hip,  but  even  maintains  thatholinessof  heait,  or  internal  grace,  is  not 
necessary  to  membership.  Hence  the  usual  expression  with  the  Roman  priests : 
"Such  a  one  is  reconciled  to  the  church;"  not  to  God,  but  "to  the  church.'* 
And  Bellarmine  maintains  an  argument  that  "  wicked  men,  infidels  and  reprobates, 
remaining  in  the  pubhc  profession  of  their  Romish  church,  are  true  members  of  the 
body  of  Christ !"  See  Bell.  Lib.  3.  De  Eccles.  c.  7.  The  Rhemist  Annotators 
declare  the  same,  on  1  Tim.  iii.  15,  and  on  John  xv.  1. 

2.  And,  in  addition  to  this,  the  Romish  church  has  apostatized  from  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  the  gospel.  You  reject  the  one  only  and  perfect  atonement  of  Christ, 
and  substitute,  in  its  place,  the  mass,  in  which  you  profess  to  offer  up  weekly,  an 
unbloody  sacrifice  for  the  living  and  the  dead ;  you  reject  justification  by  faith  alone, 
through  Christ's  righteousnes ;  you  deny  the  efficacious  work  of  grace  by  the  Holy 
Ghost:  with  you,  a  sinner  is  saved  purely  by  human  merit,  and  the  efficacy  of  your 
sacraments,  and  the  priest's  intention. 

And  to  the  pure  doctrines  and  institutions  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  the  Roman  Catho- 
Ucs  have  added  an  endless  train  of  doctrines,  will-worship,  rites,  and  ceremonies. 
The  whole  face  of  Christianity  has  been  changed  in  that  church ;  the  whole  system 
new  modelled,  in  the  most  heaven  daring  manner. 

In  Christ's  throne  they  have  reared  "  their  lord  god,  the  pope."  They  have  intro- 
duced the  adoration  of  saints,  and  the  idolatrous  veneration  of  images.  They  have 
invented  a  purgatory,  though  opposed  by  St.  i^ugustine,  and  the  best  Fathers,  before 
the  sixth  century.  They  deny  marriage  to  the  priests,  and  very  facetiously  call  a 
bachelor  priest's  life,  "  chastity !"  Transubstantialion  and  the  mass,  though  invented 
in  the  ninth  century,  were  imposed  on  the  Roman  church,  only  so  late  as  1215,  in 
the  fourth  council  of  the  Lateran,  by  Pope  Innocent  III.  They  deny  the  cup  to  the 
laity  in  the  Lord's  supper ;  although  Pope  Gelasius,  in  492,  pronounced  it  sacrilege 
to  do  so  ! 

Thus,  your  church  is  apostate  in  doctrine  ;  and  so  the  succession  is  cut  off.  Hear 
the  words  of  Gregory  Nazianzin,  speaking  of  Athanasius  »ucceediDg  in  the  chair  of 
St.  Mark  :  "  He  was  not  less  the  successor  of  his  piety,  than  of  his  seat;  in  point  of 


gg  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

time,  distant  from  him.  But,  in  piety,  which  indeed  is  properly  colled  successwn, 
directly  after  him.  For  he  that  holdeth  of  the  same  doctrine  is  of  the  same  chair ; 
but  he  who  is  an  enemy  to  the  doctrine,  is  an  enemy  to  the  chair!"  Orat.  21,  on 
Athan.  Paris  edit,  of  1777. 

But,  3.  Your  succession  is  broken  offin  the  broken  hne  of  the  popes,  and  true  ordina- 
tion. The  very  nature  of  the  apostolical  character,  and  call  to  office,  will  show  that 
the  apostles  had  no  successors  in  office.  An  apostle  was  one  who  had  seen  Christ 
alive,  after  his  death ;  was  sent  by  immediate  inspiration  and  a  call  to  office,  by 
Christ,  visible  to  him ;  and  who,  moreover,  established  his  divine  call  before  the 
world,  by  miraculous  powers.     Gal.  chap.  i.  and  1  Cor.  ix.  1,  &c. 

Besides  these,  Christ  appointed  pastors  and  teachers.  When  the  line  of  extraordi- 
nary offices,  like  that  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  ceased,  the  ordinary  line  of  pastors 
and  teachers  continued.  These  alone,  strictly  speaking,  had  successors,  as  these 
were  successors  to  the  apostles  in  that  part  of  their  characters  which  made  them 
teachers.  "  Go  ye.  and  teach  all  nations."  This  was  spoken  as  much  to  the 
pastors  and  preachers,  as  to  the  apostles ;  and  to  the  successors  of  that  class  which 
actually  had  successors. 

But  even  admitting,  what  was  impossible,  that  your  popes  were  the  successors  of 
the  apostles,  the  Hue  has  been  broken  off  long  ago. 

I  have  before  me  copious  extracts  from  Platina,  Baronius,  Genebrard,  Dupin,  &c., 
all  Romish  writers,  which  show  that  the  Roman  Catholic  church  was  corrupt  from 
the  fourth  century ;  that  she  increased  in  corruption  until  the  ninth :  and  that,  from 
the  ninth  to  the  council  of  Trent,  say  for  660  years,  she  was  in  a  state  of  the 
most  frightful  corruption. 

The  tumults  and  bloodshed,  at  the  election  of  popes,  clearly  prove  that  Rome  was 
converted  into  the  synagogue  of  Satan.  Could  such  gladiators  be  the  apostohcal 
successors  ?  Pope  Liberius  [A.  D.  353]  became  a  heretic  by  the  emperor's  influ- 
ence, and  that  of  the  apostate  Bishop  Hosius.  Hear  your  writer,  Andre  du  Chesne  : 
*' Not  to  dwell  on  all  the  persons  of  distinction,  who  imitated  him,  he  notoriously  car- 
ried along  with  him,  in  his  fall,  the  supreme  bishop  of  the  entire  orthodox  church!" 

Platina,  in  his  life  of  Damasus,  I.,  A.  D.,  366,  says,  *'that  when  he  was  elected 
pope,  he  had  a  rival  in  the  church  called  Sicinus;  where  many  were  killed  on  both 
sides,  in  the  church  itself:  since,  the  matter  was  discussed  not  only  by  votes,  hut 
by  force  of  arms  /" 

Baronius,  vol.  vi.  p.  562,  A.  D.  498,  tells  us  that  the  emperor's  faction  sustained 
the  election  of  Laurentius  to  the  papacy.  In  this  struggle,  "murders,  robberies, 
and  numberless  evils,  were  perpetrated  at  Rome."  Nay,  such  were  the  horrible 
scenes  that,  says  Baronius,  *'  there  was  a  risk  of  their  destroying  the  whole  city !" 

In  the  schism  between  the  Popes  Sylverius  and  Vigilius,  in  the  sixth  century, 
the  latter,  though  an  atrociously  wicked  man,  "  implicated,"  says  Baronius,  "  in  so 
many  crimes,"  that  all  virtuous  men  opposed  him,  was  raised  to  the  papal  chair. 
Yet  this  man  was  pronounced  a  good  pope.  Baronius  says  he  is  not  to  be  despised 
though  a  bad  man.  "Let  every  man  recollect,"  says  he,  "  that  even  to  the  shadow 
of  Peter,  immense  virtue  was  given  of  God  !"     Bar.  vol.  vii.  p.  420. 

In  the  midst  of  contentions  which  rent  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  Pope  Pela- 
gius  I.  was  chosen.  This  pope  approved  the  council  which  Pope  Vigilius  had  con- 
demned. This  increased  the  flames  of  ecclesiastical  war  to  such  a  degree  that  the 
pope  could  not  find  a  bishop  of  Rome,  who  could  consecrate  him ;   and  he  wa« 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  37 

constrained  to  beg  a  priest  of  Ostium  to  do  this  service:  "a  thing"  says  Baroniiis, 
*'  which  never  had  occurred  before."     Vol.  vii.  p.  475. 

The  Popes  Formosus  and  Stephen  lived  in  the  ninth  century.  The  latter,  says 
Baronius,  was  so  wicked,  that  he  would  not  have  dared  to  enrol  him  in  the  Ust  of 
popes,  were  it  not  that  antiquity  gives  his  name.  In  the  exercise  of  papal  infallibility, 
he  not  only  rescinded  the  acts  and  decrees  of  his  infallible  predecessor  Formosus ; 
but,  collecting  a  council  of  cardinals  and  bishops  as  bad  as  himself,  he  actually  had 
the  old  pope  taken  out  of  his  grave  ;  and  he  brought  him  into  court,  tried,  and 
condemned  him ;  cut  off  three  of  his  fingers ;  and  plunged  his  remains  into  the 
Tiber.     See  Platina's  life  of  Stephen  VI.  and  Baronius,  do. 

Pope  Romanus  I.,  in  his  turn,  abrogated  the  decrees  and  acts  of  Stephen  VI. 
'♦  For,"  says  Platina,  "these  popes  seem  to  have  thought  of  nothing  else,  than  to 
extinguish  the  name  and  dignity  of  their  predecessors."     Life  of  Romanus  I. 

Genebrard  in  his  Chronicles,  under  the  year  904,  says,  "  for  nearly  150  years, 
about  fifty  popes  deserted  wholly  the  virtue  of  their  predecessors,  being  apostate 
rather  than  apostolical  I" 

Baronius,  under  the  year  1004,  names  three  rival  popes,  who  perpetrated  the  most 
shameful  crimes,  and  bartered  the  papacy,  and  sold  it  for  gold.  He,  though  a  Roman 
catholic  WTiter,  calls  them  Cerberus,  "  the  three  headed  beast  which  had  issued  from 
the  gates  of  hell!" 

Bzovius,  in  his  Eccles.  Annals,  A.  D.,  1411,  dclares  that  after  the  council  of  Pisa, 
the  head  of  the  church  was  three  schisms,  three  anti-popes. 

The  council  of  Pisa  deposed  two  of  your  holy  popes,  whom,  in  their  sentence,  they 
pronounced  notorious  heretics,  and  guilty  of  perjury. 

The  council  of  Constance,  in  A.  D.,  1414,  deposed  three  popes,  namely,  Benedict 
XIII.,  the  Spanish  pope;  and  Gregory  XII.,  the  French  pope  ;  and  John  XXIII, , 
the  Italian  pope. 

In  short,  so  early  as  A.  D.  1073,  there  had  been  no  less  than  twenty-five  schisms, 
by  the  anti-popes,  and  the  general  profligacy  of  the  priests.  And  the  most  violent 
ones  happened  after  that  date. 

Now  the  present  pope,  and  his  prelates,  and  all  his  priests,  are  as  incapable  of  tra- 
cing their  succession  through  these  endlessly  broken  lines  of  papal  succession,  as  are  the 
present  Jews  of  tracing  their  descent  from  their  respective  tribes  and  famihes.  It  is 
alJ  idle  and  absurd  in  them  to  set  up  the  claims  of  apostolical  succession.  Jerome 
and  Gregory  Nazianzen  tell  you  that  the  succession  is  that  of  piety  and  doctrine, 
not  that  of  merely  sitting  in  the  same  chair,  or  throne!  On  your  principle,  the 
Turks,  or  Egyptians'  power  and  dominion  in  Jerusalem,  worshipping  in  the  mo«que 
of  Omar,  are  ;he  true  and  lineal  successors  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  the  Hebrew 
church  of  old ! 

Here  I  shall  add  an  appropriate  remark  of  your  Baronius ;  who  though  a  Roman 
catholic  writer,  seems  to  labour  honestly  to  make  out  the  case  that  your  church  is  dege- 
nerated from  the  once  holy  church  of  Rome,  as  far  as  the  Turks'  mosque  at  Jerusalem, 
is  from  the  pure  ancient  Hebrew  church.  Hear  his  words  in  his  life  of  Pope  Stephen 
VII.  A.  D.  900.  "  The  case  is  such,  that  scarcely  any  one  can  believe,  or  ever.  \s'A\ 
believe  it,  unless  he  sees  it  with  his  eyes,  and  handles  it  with  his  hands,  viz.  What 
unworthy,  vile,  unsightly,  yea,  execrable  and  hateful  things  the  sacred  apostolic  See, 
on  whose  hinges  the  universal  apostolical  church  turns,  has  been  compelled  t6  s'ee, 
&c."--*'  To  our  shame  and  grief  be  it  spoken,  how  many  monsiccs,  horrible  to  beHold, ' 

5 


38  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

were  intruded  by  them"  (the  secular  princes,)  "into  that  seat  which  is  reverenced  by 
angels !"  "  The  holy  See,"  he  adds,  "  is  bespattered  with  filth,"  "  infected  by  stench/* 
"  defiled  by  impurities,"  and  "blackened  by  perpetual  infamy !" 

And  to  crown  this  clunax,  Baronius,  under  the  year  912  adds :  "  What  is  then  the 
face  of  the  holy  Roman  church  !  How  exceedingly  foul  it  is !  When  most  potent,  sordid 
and  abandoned  women  (Mere trices,)  ruled  at  Rome  ;  at  whose  will  the  Sees  were 
changed  ;  bishops  were  presented ;  and  what  is  horrid  to  hear,  and  unutterable,  False 
Pontiffs,  the  paramours  of  these  women,  were  intruded  into  the  chair  of  St.  Peter» 
&c."  He  adds — "  For  who  can  affirm  that  men  illegally  inlruded  by  bad  women, 
(Scortis,)  were  Roman  pontiffs  !"  Again:  "The  canons  were  closed  in  silence;  the 
decrees  of  Pontiffs  were  suppressed ;  the  ancient  traditions  were  proscribed ;  and  the 
eacred  ceremonies  and  usages  of  former  days  were  wholly  extinct  !"  See  his 
Annals  A.  D.  912. 

Thus  we  have  evidence  the  most  complete  and  overwhelming,  not  from  Protestant 
authors,  but  from  your  own  favourite  Baronius,  that  the  Roman  catholic  succession 
is,  in  every  sense,  completely  and  for  ever  cut  off".  You  are  a  withered  branch  lying 
in  the  dust.  You  are  as  completely  severed  from  the  primitive  apostolical  church  of 
Rome,  as  is  the  mosque  of  St.  Omar,  from  the  primitive  christian  church  of  Jerusalem. 
Hence,  you  have  neither  pope,  nor  prelate,  nor  priest,  nor  sacrament,  nor  a  holy 
infallible  rule  of  faith  ! 

I  shall  close  this  letter  with  a  brief  notice  of  some  of  the  miscellaneous  objections  in 
your  last.  You  commit  an  error  relative  to  the  canon  and  the  council  of  Carthage. 
The  editions  of  that  council's  decrees  vary  much ;  and  they  are  of  "  very  doubtful 
faith."  WTiat  confidence  can  you  have  in  their  decrees,  when  there  is  mention  made 
in  it  of  your  pope  Boniface,  who  was  actually  not  made  pope  until  ^  years  after  its 
meeting !  And  if  you  admit  theu:  canon,  what  will  you  do  with  their  decree  about  the 
ecclesiastical  canon  of  Legends.  And,  finally,  are  you  aware  that  this  council  con- 
demns the  papal  ambition ;  denying  that  any  ecclesiastic  should  be  called  "  bishop  of 
the  first  seat,"  or  ''prince  of  priests,''  or  e\en '' chief  of  bishops  T'  See  Bern  Do 
Moore,  Per.  Comment,  vol.  i.  p.  316. 

The  apocryphal  books  are  not  in  the  canon  written  out  by  Melito,  bishop  of  Sardis, 
of  the  second  century ;  nor  in  that  of  Origen  of  the  third ;  nor  in  that  of  Athanasius, 
Hilary,  Gregory  Naz.,  or  of  Jerome,  of  the  fourth.  See  Euseb.  L.  4.  26.  and  L.  6, 
25;  LardnerlV.  282.  Home,  Introd.  i.  p.  628. 

Hear  now  St.  Jerome  in  his  Epist.  ad  Lsetam, — "  Caveat  &c.  Let  her  take  heed  of  all 
tlie  apocrypha ;  if  she  will  read  it,  not  for  the  truth  of  doctrine,  but  reverence  of  the  story, 
let  her  know  that  they  are  not  their  writings  whose  titles  they  bear,  and  that  many  cor- 
rupt things  are  mixed  in  them."     See  Willet,  p.  2.  folio. 

Our  priests  must  perceive  that  the  words  they  quote  from  the  council  of  Carthage 
do  not  canonize  the  apocrypha.  They  only  state  that  these  books  ''^were  read  in  the 
church."  Augustine  also  admits  that  they  were  read,  "but  by  an  humble  oflRcer,  in  a 
lower  place  than  that  in  ivhich  the  canonical  scriptures  ice  re  read  by  the  bishop."  Scf; 
Aug.  De  Predest.,  Lib.  1.  cap.  14.  And  in  his  De  Civ.  Dei,  Lib.  18.  c.  26.  and  Lib.  17. 
c.  29,  he  declares  that  Judith,  Wisdom,  and  Ecclesiasticus  are  not  canonical.  There- 
fore, gentlemen,  you  and  Milner, — if  we  must  credit  history  and  the  Fathers,  have 
uttered  what  is  notoriously  in  error,  relative  to  the  canon,  and  tradition ! 

You  quoted  Hooker,  and  Chillingworth,  as  favoring  your  infidelity  on  the  rule  of 
faith  !  I  shall  give  you  a  quotation  from  the  first,  with  the  comment  of  the  last  on  it. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  39 

Hooker  thus  writes, — "  Scripture  teaches  us  that  saving  truth,  which  God  discovere<:l 
to  the  world  by  revolaiion  :  and  it  presumeth  us  taught  otherwise,  that  itself  is  divine. 
The  question  then  being,  by  what  means  we  are  taught  this ;  some  answer,  that  to 
learn  it,  we  have  no  other  way  than  tradition.  Cliillingworth  says — "  some  answer 
so,  but  he  doth  not.  *'  These  great  men,  next  proceed  to  show  that  mere  tradition  '  is 
not  enough :'  and  that  '  tlie  authority  or  testimony  of  the  church  (they  mean  not  the 
Romish  church)  is  the  first  outward  aioTiVE  leading  men  to  esteem  of  the  scrip- 
tures.' C.  adds, — ihejirst  outward  motive,  not  the  last  assurance  whereon  we  rest." 
Hooker  Ecc.  Pol.  B.  3.  s.  8.  Chill,  note  7.  Prot.  Jour,  of  London,  vol.  i.  686. 

Yours  very  truly,  and  respectfully. 
W.  C.  B. 


EXTRACT  FROM  THE  PRIESTS'  LETTER  IV. 

"  Spurciloquium  decet  hereticos  et  ethnicos!" — Tertul.  De  Resur. 

*'l3  your  last  letter  worthy  of  a  scholar,  worthy  of  him  who  is  intimate  with  the  interior 
spirit,  and  familiar  with  the  "  Hebrew  and  Gi-eek  of  the  Holy  Ghost?"  Is  it,  in  any  sense, 
a  logical  and  theological  production  ?  Does  it,  even  remotely,  bear  on  the  matter  in  ques- 
tion— your  rule  of  faith  ?" 

"  Does  it  honor  him  who  erects  his  rule  of  faith  on  the  whisperings  of  the  interior  Spirit, 
and  through  its  illumination  selects  from  the  "  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  holy  Ghost,"  those 
necessary  articles  of  creed  on  which  his  salvation  depends  ?" 

"  Unable  to  meet  your  antagonist  in  manly  and  logical  argument — skulking  under  the 
shelter  of  subterfuge  and  rank  slanders,  into  which  you  breathe  a  still  ranker  life, — a  prey 
to  the  gnawings  which  cat  into  your  very  heart's  core  under  defeat,  disgrace  and  dishonor; 
you  sputter  out  the  morbid  secretions  of  an  envenomed  will." 

Again  our  queries  are  repeated. 

How  do  you  know  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God? 

How  do  you  know  which  books  were  written  by  divine  inspiration  ? 

Does  the  Bible  contain  the  whole  of  the  word  of  God,  or  does  it  not? 

"Nothing  in  your  last — but  an  idle  drivel  about  the  'liberty  of  conscience,' — American 
Republicans,  a  startlii.g  phrase,  anthropoi  alogoi,  to  prove  intimacy  with  Hebrew  and 
Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost  &c.  &c." 

"  Thus  you  go  up,  up,  up; 

And  thus  you  go  down,  down,  downy  ; 
Thus  you  go  hackicard  and  foncard, — 

And,  heigh  for  your  logic,  dear  Brownlee  !" 

"  Your  register  of,  and  tirade  about,  the  Popes  is  out  of  place,  of  no  consequence  to  tho 
real  matter  under  consideration — your  rule  of  faith." 

*'  We  call  on  you,  in  the  face  of  the  Biblical  world,  to  produce  one  single  text  of  scrip- 
ture, which  tells  you  '  that  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  judge  of  controversy,  established  by 
Christ,  is  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  to  us  in  the  written  word  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of 
the  New." 

"  First,  when  Christ  sent  his  apostles  to  convert  the  world,  he  did  not  say  go  and  distribute 
the  scriptures  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  but  '  Go  into  die  whole  world,  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature.'  " 

"  Secondly.  The  Bible  is  a  book  more  or  less  obscure  in  most  parts  of  it,  and  full  of  things 
'hard  to  be  under.-tood,  which  the  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest  to  their  oicn  destruction.' 
2  Pet.  iii.  16.  Some  texts  §eem  to  contradict  others  :  Several  o^^pcar  to  inculcate  the  very 
vices  which  God  condemns." 

■"  Thirdly.     The  learned  among  christians,  who  make  the  Bible  alone  their  rule  of  faith, 


40 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CO  JfTllOVERST. 


cannot  agree,  as  to  its  meaning,  in  the  most  important  points ;  as  the  endless  variations  of 
Protestants  on  all  religious  subjects  prove." 

"  Fourthly.  The  rule  of  faith  previously  to  the  existence  of  the  scriptures  of  the  New 
Testament,  must  have  been  the  testinaony  of  the  church  or  preaching  of  the  gospel  by  men 
sent  by  God." 

"  Can  you,  Rev.  Doctor,  adduce  scripture  evidence,  that  tlie  gospels  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment were  actually  written  by  the  blessed  Apostles  and  Evangelists,  whose  names  are 
attached  to  them  ?  Is  it  possible  for  you  to  prove  by  any  other  means,  than  tradition,  that 
the  Sabbath  of  the  Jews  was  changed  by  the  Apostles  to  the  first  day  of  the  week  ?  What 
other  proof  can  you  give,  except  that  of  tradition,  for  the  custom  of  infant  baptism." 

You  shall  aswer  this,—"  First,  if  we  look  back  to  the  commencement  of  Christianity,  we 
shall  find  that  the  New  Testament  was  written,  by  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists  chiefly  in 
Greek." 

"  We  think  it  strange,  that  our  most  gracious  Redeemer  would  require  of  the  foor  igno- 
ranf  people  to  pick  out  their  religion  through  the  exercise  of  tlteir  own  scanty  intellect  from 
the  holy  scripture,  or  to  depend  on  their  own  weak  capacities,  for  detecting  the  true  senst 
and  intcrpretatio7i  of  h.^^ 

"  Your  great  mistakes  in  supposing  the  rule  of  faith  was  made  and  intended  by  God  to 
be  put  into  the  hands  of  every  man.  It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  it ;  and,  hence,  the  old 
distinction  of  F^clesia  dvcens,  and  Ecclesia  discens,  &c." 

"  Christ  gave  no  orders  to  his  Apostles  to  write  the  New  Testament;"  If  the  Bible  be  your 
only  rule  of  faith,  you  cannot  believe  that  Christ  did  give  any  such  command  to  his  Apos- 
tles. Produce  the  text  if  you  can,  and  if  you  cannot,  why  believe  he  did  command  his  Apos- 
tles to  write  the  New  Testament?" 

"  But  we  cannot  conclude,  without  expressing  our  great  surprise  at  the  divisions  of  Pro- 
testants with  regard  to  the  very  essence  of  religion,  seeing  that  they  are  taught,  as  they  assert 
by  Christ  himself,  under  'guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  God.'  " 


LETTER  V. 

TO    DOCTORS    POWER,    VARELA,    AND    MR.    LEVINS. 

"  Therefore  will  I  put  my  hook  in  thy  nose,  and  my  bridle  in  thy  lips,  and  I  will  turn  thee 
back  by  the  way,  by  which  thou  camest." — Isaiah's  message  to  Sennaclteiib.     ch.  37.  29. 

ON    THE    RULE    OF    FAITH. 

Gentlemen  : — I  dare  say  my  readers  will  have  learned  already,  from  this  stage 
of  our  argument,  that  it  is  not  by  fair  and  manly  argument  that  Popery  seeks  to 
advance  itself:  but,  on  the  contrary,  by  throwing  a  veil  over  its  most  repulsive  and 
haggard  features.  Every  Protestant,  and  every  patriot  ought  to  make  himself  tho- 
roughly acquainted  with  this  peculiar  attribute  of  popery,  namely  its  singular  power 
of  elasticity,  in  adapting  itself  to  each  country ;  to  all  times,  and  places  ;  and  to  the 
peculiar  habits  of  thinking  among  a  people.  With  the  Jesuit  among  the  Chinese,  it 
permits  the  natives  to  worship  deceased  fathers  and  mothers ;  on  the  trifling  condition 
that  they  only  change  the  nomenclature,  and  call  them  St.  Peter ;  St.  Paul ;  St. 
Dominick  ;  and  the  Holy  Virgin !  Or,  with  the  Canadian  Jesuit  among  the  Indians, 
it  gains  the  ear  of  the  savage  warrior  by  "representing  Jesus  Christ  as  an  ancient, 
and  brave  warrior,  who  excelled  all  his  compeers  in  killing  and  scalping  the  foes  of 
the  tribe !" 

Its  grossest  doctrines  it  carefu.iy  conceals,  among  civilized  and  refined  people.     It 


ROMAN    CA1H0L1C    CONTROV^RST.  41 

is  in  its  goverament,  not  only  monarchic,  but  feudal :  and  of  the  very  essence  of 
absolutism,  in  its  claims  of  authority  over  the  souls,  consciences,  and  bodies  of  its 
votaries.  Witness  the  absolute  supremacy  of  his  holiness,  over  his  prelates ;  and 
that  of  the  prelates,  over  the  priests ;  and  that  of  the  priests  over  the  souls,  bodies' 
and  properties  of  the  simple  faithful ! 

Yet,  while,  in  the  very  essence  of  its  priestly  power,  it  is  all  hostility  to  republican 
freedom:  and  cannot  be  otherwise,  from  its  public,  and  sworn  allegiance  to  the 
foreign  potentate  of  Rome ;  it  gravely  affects  to  raise  its  hosannahs  in  favor  of  our 
glorious  and  free  institutions !  I  speak  not  of  all :  there  are  in  the  Romish  com- 
munion, as  enlightened  and  loyal  hearts  as  ever  beat  in  a  gallant  bosom :  and  many 
of  these  excellent  men  we  have  in  our  city.  I  speak  of  the  Romish  priesthood  :  and 
of  those  who  basely  yield  to  their  absolutism ;  and  who  sustain  their  usurpation  ^ 
what  neither  God,  nor  man  ever  gave  them. 

It  is  a  truth  which  I  am  anxious  to  impress  on  my  readers,  that  there  has  been 
no  change,  no  improvement,  no  reformation,  in  the  spirit,  power,  and  designs  of 
popery.  Its  spirit  is  jjrecisely  the  same,  this  day,  in  its  secret  haunts,  in  our  city,  and 
over  the  land,  as  it  is  now  in  Italy  and  Spain  :  and  it  is  the  same  here,  and  in  Italy, 
as  it  ever  has  been  in  the  darkest  ages  of  Europe.  There  is  a  sti-ange  delusion 
abroad  in  the  land,  namely  ;  that  there  has  been  a  singular  improvement  in  it ;  and 
that  it  is  entirely  different.  To  make  this  impression  on  the  American  mind,  has 
been  the  incessant  labor  of  the  Jesuits  who  swarm  in  disguise,  among  us,  in  these 
United  States,  since  they  lost  their  foothold  in  Europe.  And  the  extent  of  this 
lethargy  and  indifference  is  appalling.  It  indicates  one  of  two  things:  the  great 
influence  of  Jesuitism,  or  the  insensibility  of  our  fellow-citizens  to  the  national  dan- 
ger to  which  we  are  exposed  from  the  Jesuits,  whom  no  despot  in  Europe  can  endure, 
and  who  have  been  solemnly  banished  by  every  government  of  the  old  world  ' 

Now,  Holy  Mother  and  her  sons  are  precisely  the  same  nov/  as  when  they  con- 
vulsed the  nations  of  Europe.  The  old  lion  has  had  his  claws  pared,  and  his  teeth 
broken ;  he  is  only  reclining  in  his  den — en  couchant — until  his  teeth  and  his  claws 
shall  have  grown.  His  spirit  is  the  same,  unbroken,  unsubdued,  untameable !  And 
our  fellow  citizens,  whose  characteristic  charity  has  been  ungenerously  imposed  on,  do 
verily  pay  them  no  compliment,  in  a  Jesuit's  estimation,  when  they  call  their  system 
an  improvement  on  the  doctrines,  regimen,  and  tjTanny  of  the  papal  court,  in  the 
dark  ages.  In  paying  them  this  compliment,  at  which  every  son  of  Loyola  smiles, 
but  with  bitterness  of  feeling,  we  actually,  though  unwittingly,  rob  them  of  their  pre- 
eminent attribute  of  immvtability. 

It  is  a  compliment  as  ungracious  to  our  Jesuits,  as  that  of  the  popish  princes  of  the 
old  world  to  their  pope.  They  caressed  and  worshipped  the  apostolical  vicar  of 
Christ,  while  they  sent  potent  armies  to  beleaguer  his  city,  and  plunder  him,  as  a 
temporal  prince! 

All  the  difference  which  can  be  supposed  to  exist  between  ancient  and  modern 
popery,  arises  from  this  elastic  attribute  of  adapting  itself  to  the  times,  the  habits,  and 
religious  freedom  of  a  thinking  people.  And,  hence,  our  main  task  is  to  exliibit  their 
real  and  accredited  princii)les,  in  their  standard  works,  and  contrast  with  them  these 
pretended  modern  views,  put  on,  en  masque,  until  the  time  (may  it  never  happen,)  when 
their  anticipated  ascendency  shall  take  place  in  our  land,  on  the  contemplated  ruin  of 
the  Protestant  religion,  and  the  extinction  of  our  republic  institutions  ! 

We  have  proved,  I  trust,  to  the  satisfaction  of  everj'  candid  christian,  that  what  luo 

5^ 


42  roma:^  catholic  coxtroverst. 

Roman  Caihoiic  church  calls  its  infallible  rule  of  faith  never  can  be  found  out.  of 
reduced  to  any  practical  purpose  :  that  Christ  never  established  that  rule  in  his  church : 
and  that  even  if  he  did,  the  line  of  succession  is  broken  off,  and  lost  irretrievably. 
The  blow  -which  severed  the  last  bond  of  apostolical  union  and  succession,  was  struck 
by  that  assembly  of  ungodly  men  who  formed  the  council  of  Trent ;  and  whom  your 
own  father  Paul,  in  his  historj'  of  it,  called  '-a  camp  of  incarnate  demons  I"  The 
succession  is  gone  from  the  Romish  church,  like  the  departed  glory,  which,  in  the 
holy  vision  of  Ezekiel,  was  seen  hovering  long  over  the  threshhold,  and  then  over  the 
city,  and,  finally,  took  hs  flight ! 

No  accurate  theologian  ever  said  that  the  holy  universal  church  of  Christ  has  been, 
or  can  be.  cut  off.  She  has  existed  in  her  gior}-  and  beauty,  as  the  spouse  of  Christ, 
since  the  days  of  Adam,  dovm  through  all  the  revolution  of  time,  and  of  empires,  even 
to  this  hoiu".  Unhke  the  church  of  Rome,  which  by  her  own  confession,  rests  on  a 
mortal  man,  the  rock  Peter, — the  holy  church  of  God  is  founded  on  the  eternal 
BOCK  of  ages,  even  Jesus  Christ ;  and  the  gates  of  hell  cannot  prevail  against  her. 
She  advances  in  splendor,  and  an  ever  encreasing  lustre  of  accumulating  glory,  as 
she  advances  in  days,  and  in  years.  And  this  fair  one  moves  forvsard,  leaning  on 
the  arm  of  her  espoused  Lord,  to  take  possession  of  all  nations,  and  kingdoms  on 
earth  l  And  the  long  line  of  her  successive  pastors  and  teachers,  has  ever  continued, 
unbroken,  till  now,  and  will  through  all  days,  imto  the  consummation  of  all  things. 

This  holy  universal  church  may  not,  at  all  times,  be  visible.  In  the  days  of  Ahab, 
the  spiritual  church  was  not  visible  :  it  did  not  stand  %-isibly  out  with  its  pastors  and 
teachers.  Yet  it  existed  in  the  ministrations  of  Ehjah ;  and  in  the  persons  of  the  7000 
who,  though  unknown  even  to  that  holy  prophet,  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal. 
So  also  in  the  general  apostacy  of  the  christian  era,  this  spiritual  society'  did  not  stand 
visibly  out  before  the  world  with  her  pure  ministers,  and  her  congregated  assembhes. 
Yet  there  ever  was  a  church  of  God  in  Asia,  in  Greece,  and  amid  the  dens  and  caves 
in  the  west  and  south  of  Europe  :  there  ever  was  an  unbroken  succession  of  holy  ^-it- 
nesses :  with  their  ^inbroken  line  of  holy  pastors,  and  teachers,  and  they  were  raised 
up,  as  their  manyred  fathers  closed  their  lives,  and  sealed  the  testimony  -v^-ith  their 
blood, — by  the  c£dl  of  divine  providence,  and  the  call  of  the  faithfid  church;  a  two- 
fold call,  essential  t.o  the  true  ministry; — which  no  Roman  Catholic  priest  ever  had; 
or  ever  thought  of  claiming. 

If  protestants  would  be  at  the  trouble  of  keeping  these  facts  in  view,  relative  to  the 
succession  of  the  pure  church  of  Christ,  in  Asia  ;  and  through  the  line  of  the  Walden- 
ses,  and  the  verj'  ancient  Anglian  church,  and  the  Culdees,  and  Lollards  in  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  ever}-  one  would  be  prepared  to  answer  the  iQiterate  and  vulgar  quibble 
of  the  Roman  catholics, — ''\\Tiere  was  your  religion  before  Luther?"  Y''esl  Theholy 
church  of  Jesus  Christ,  has  from  the  days  of  Adam»  been  rolling  on  like  the  streams  of 
our  own  mighty  Mississippi,  and  becoming  deeper  and  wider,  and  more  and  more 
majestic,  as  she  flows  along  the  bosom  of  time.  But  the  Roman  catholic  church,  and 
the  numerous  sects  and  heresies  in  her,  like  so  many  byous,  bursting  through  the 
baniis  of  that  noble  river,  and  threading  their  hea^y  and  muddy  courses  through  the 
adjacent  lands,  have  been  diverging,  in  the  course  of  years,  farther  and  farther  from  the 
j)ure  rivers  of  the  water  of  life,  which  issue  from  the  sanctuar\-  and  throne  of  God. — But 
we  now  go  on  to  oiur — 

VI.     Argument,  against  the  Roman  cathohc  rule  of  faith  :  namely  : — The  proof 


HOBIAV     CATHOLIC    CO>'TROVERST.  43 

tchich  the  Romish  writers  bring  in  behalf  of  your  rule,  is  not  only  involved  in  contradic- 
tions, but  is  founded  in  arrogant  and  blasphemous  assurnptions. 

"Popen,-,"  says  bishop  Hall,  (in  his  works  p.  351.)  "Popery  destroyeth  the  foun- 
dation, and  instead  of  the  true  foundation,  it  lays  a  double  new  one ;  the  one  a  new 
rule  of  faith  ;  and  the  other,  a  new  author,  or  guide  of  faith."  Instead  of  Christ,  as  the 
Judge,  "  popery  rears  on  the  throne  a  man,  the  jiiaji  of  sin.  He  must  know  all  things, 
can  err  in  nothing ;  he  directs,  informs,  commands,  animates,  both  in  eanh.  and  pur- 
gator\- :  expounds  scripture,  canonizes  saints,  forgives  sins,  and  creates  new  articles 
of  faith;  and  in  all  these,  is  absolute  and  infallible  as  his  Maker  !" 

Planting  themselves  on  the  ground  of  this  rule,  the  Roman  priesthood  intrude  them- 
aelves  between  the  human  intellect,  and  our  Creator ;  and  declare  that  they  are  lords 
over  the  reason,  and  judgment,  and  conscience  of  man ;  thatmrm  shall  not  think  for  him- 
self, nor  exercise,  in  religion,  the  rights  oi private  jud^rtunt,  Thev  stand  up  bet^veen 
God  and  his  o-^ii  accountable  subjects,  and  affirm  in  the  very  presence  of  the  Almightv, 
that  they  shall  not  hear  God's  word,  as  he  speaks  it  to  them  :  that  they  shall  not  be 
permitted  "to  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  chin-ches;  that  thev  shall  hear  it 
only  as  their  priesthood  choose  to  explain  it :  that  all  the  authority  of  the  Bible  is 
derived  from  them,  and  their  church  ;  that  no  man  shall  take  on  him  to  worship  God. 
as  Christ  prescribes,  but  as  the  Romish  priesthood  -prescnhes:  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  speaking  in  tlie  Scriptures  shall  not  interpret  the  word  to  them;  but  that  the 
priesthood  alone  shall  do  it.  And  thus,  in  the  very  face  of  the  Almighty,  the  supreme 
and  only  Judge  of  all.  do  they  usurp  the  guidance  of  the  human  conscience  :  and  thrust 
themselves  in  the  throne  of  God,  and  receive  the  confessions  of  sins  I  sitting  in  the  temple 
of  God,  and  calling  the  pope.  God,  they  grant  absolution  of  sins  !  They  pro\'ide  a  new 
gacrifice  of  a  thing  they  call  the  Mass :  and  they  tell  divine  justice,  that  this,  even  this. 
and  not  the  blood  of  Christ,  shall  atone  and  reconcile  I  They  consummate  their 
damning  high  treason  against  the  Son  of  God.  by  providing  a  supply  of  new  and 
unheard  of  intercessors :  and  the}'  place  tliis  new  host  of  their  heaven,  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  mediatrijr,  the  Virgin  Mary  I 

And  they  close  the  creation  of  their  new  heavens,  and  their  new  earth,  by  denounc- 
ing the  holy  Bible,  as  "  a  falacious  rule ;"  and  erecting  in  its  stead,  as  their  law.  and 
their  judge,  the  rule  and  judge  of  their  own  invention !  And  they  utter  their  hosannahft 
to  them  as  "  infallible''  and  as  utterly  removed  above  all  liability  to  mistake,  or  misappre- 
hension ! 

After  this,  it  wotild  not  surprise  us,  if  they  claim  for  their  pope,  or  the  church,  the 
power  of  appointing  >'ew  articles  of  faith.  I  am  aware  that  a  strong  party  among 
them  deny  this,  but  the  Roman  partj-  does  maintain  it.  Pope  Leo  X.  condemned 
Luther  for  denying  this  power:  See  his  Bull  added  to  the  last  Coimcil  in  Lateran  : 
and  bishop  Jer.  Taylor's  works  p.  392.  And  Thomas  Aquinas  and  Almain  expressly 
asseit. — "  That  the  Popes  of  Rome  by  defining  many  things,  which  before  lay  liid, 
symboliun  tidei  augere  consuesse,  are  accustomed  to  enlarge  the  symbol  of  faith." 
And  every  body  knows  that  t^-elve  articles  were  added  to  the  creed,  by  the  council 
of  Trent. 

Bellarmine  De  concil.  Auctor.  lib.  ii.  cap.  17.  teaches  the  genuine  popery.',  namely : 
that  "the  supreme  pontili'  is  simply  and  absolutely  above  the  church  :  and  above  a 
general  coimcil.  &:o.''  He  adds  the  following,  which  no  one  can  clear  from  the 
charge  of  blasphemy :  "  All  the  names  which  in  the  scriptures  are  applied  to  Christ, 
proving  him  to  be  above  the  church,  are.  in  Hke  manner,  applied  to  the  pontiff:  as. 


44  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVBRST. 

&st,  Christ  is  pater  familias,  head  of  the  family,  in  his  own  house,  which  is  the 
church.  The  pontiff  is  high  steward  in  the  same,  that  is,  he  is  pater  familias,  in  the 
place  of  Christ,  loco  Christi." 

And  hence  the  titles  of  the  pope,  on  the  pages  of  these  writers,  who  advocate  this 
doctrine.  He  is  "  Deus  alter  in  terra,"  *'  another  god  on  earth ;"  "  the  lord  our  god 
the  pope."  *'Idem  est  dominium  Dei  ac  Papse  ;"  "  The  dominion  of  God  and  the 
pope  are  the  same!"  "The  infallible  one."  And  pope  Clement  VII.  and  his  car- 
dinals, in  their  letter  to  king  Charles  VI.,  say,  "as  there  is  only  one  God  in  heaven, 
60  there  cannot,  and  there  ought  not,  to  be  but  one  God  on  earth  !" — meaning  himself. 
See  Troisard,  torn.  3.  p.  147.  Mussus,  bishop  of  Bitonto,  called  the  pope,  "  him 
who  is  to  us  as  our  God ;"  and  the  bishop  of  Grenada  styled  him,  "  a  god  on  earth,  not 
subject  to  a  comicil."  And  in  Bellarmine's  noted  saying,  we  have  this  doctrine, 
(Ub.  iv.  de  Rom.  jwnt.  c.  5:)  "But  if  the  pope  should  err  by  enjoining  vice,  and  for- 
bidding virtues,  the  church,  teneretur  credere,  &c.,  would  be  bound  to  believe  vices  to 
be  good,  and  virtues  to  be  wicked,  unless  she  would  be  willing  to  sin  against  con- 
science !"  Pope  Leo  X.,  in  his  Brief  of  Nov.  9th,  1512,  declared  that  "  as  vicar  of 
Christ  on  earth,  he  had  power  to  forgive,  by  virtue  of  the  keys,  the  guilt  and  punish- 
ment of  actual  sins,  &c.     See  Dupin.  vol.  iv.  p.  17. 

These  sentiments  seem  so  monstrous,  that  many  of  my  good  natured  ^readers,  I 
dare  say,  actually  think  that  we  exaggerate.  Hence  I  shall  give  a  few  more  quota- 
tions from  their  approved  writers  in  order  to  exonerate  myself.  "  Estiment  papam," 
&c.  They  esteem  the  pope  to  be  God  alone ;  unicum  Dtum  esse,  who  has  all  power 
in  heaven  and  in  earth."  Gerson  and  Carron,  p.  34;  Giannon,  Hist.  Nap.  X.  12. 
St.  Bernard,  Oper.  1725,  says, — "Praeter  Deum,  &c. — None  is  like  unto  the  pope  in 
heaven  or  earth,  except  God !,,  Pope  Innocent  III.  avowed  "that  the  pope  holds  the 
place  of  the  true  God." — Papa  locum  Dei  tenet  in  terris.  Papa  vicem  non  puri  homi- 
nis,  sed  veri  Dei  gerens  in  terra."  See  Pithou  29;  Gibert  vol.  ii.  p.  9.  ",Papa  et 
■Christus,  &c. — The  pope  and  Christ  make  one  consistory:  so  that,  sin  excepted,  the 
pope  can  almost  do  all  things  which  God  can  do."  See  Jacobatius,  De  Concilio, 
Venet,  Edit.  1728,  Edgar  Var.  p.  161. 

And  finally,  the  pope  being  invested  with  all  power  in  heaven,  and  on  earth,  all 
civil  governments  are  of  right  under  his  dominion.  The  pope,  says  a  council  which 
had  Gregory  VII.  at  its  head,  "ought  to  wear  the  token  of  imperial  dignity ;  all 
princes  ought  to  kiss  his  feet."  Pope  Innocent  HI.  said,  "the church,  my  spouse,  is 
not  married  to  me  without  bringing  me  something."  And  he  goes  on  to  state  that 
dowcry,  namely;  the  spiritual  and  the  temporal  crown  in  plenitude ;  "  that  others 
may  say  of  me,  next  to  God,  '  out  of  his  fulness  have  we  received  !'  "  Hence,  in 
the  times  of  European  degradation,  he  trampled  under  foot  all  the  laws,  and  all  the 
magistracy  of  the  European  kingdoms. 

"  Qui  Satanam  non  odit,  amet  tua  dogmata  Papa !" 

And  as  if  they  attempted,  without  compunction,  the  utmost  limit  of  impious  daring, 
they  claim  power  to  do  Mdiat  Christ  himself  never  did ;  namely,  "  to  redeem  souls 
out  of  purgator}'-."  And  those  accredited  Romanists,  who  licensed  that  marvellous 
book,  the  Revelations  of  St.  Bridget,  such  as  Terrecremata,  and  others,  gave  sanc- 
tion to  that  declaration  that  "the  good  Gregory,  sua  oratione,  &c.,  by  his  supplica- 
tions raised  aloft  '  ad  altiorem  gradum,'  to  a  loftier  grade,  even  the  pagan  Caesar." 
Morn.  Exer,  88. 

Such  are  the  arrogant  and  blasphemous  claims  advanced  by  means  of  your  "  infal- 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  C05TR0VERST.  45 

lible  rule."     It  is  impossible  not  to  conclude  that  this  is  the  invention  ofhim  "  whose 
coming  is  after  the  working  of  Satan,  with  all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying  wonders!'* 

VII.  The  history  of  your  church  establishes  this  position,  that  it  is  false,  in  fact, 
that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  an  infallible  rule  in  her.  If  there  were  infallibility 
in  the  "Holy  Mother,"  or  in  the  pope,  by  the  "infallible  exercise"  of  their  "infal- 
lible rule,"  then,  most  assuredly,  it  would  not  be  too  much  to  expect  something  like 
sanctity  and  pure  morals,  in  his  holiness,  and  in  his  court.  We  have  shown  that  in 
regard  to  our  rule,  all  disorders,  and  divisions  in  the  Protestant  churches,  arise  from 
their  not  fully  listening  to,  nor  entirely  obeying,  God's  holy  law  rud  word.  But  no 
evils,  no  errors,  no  divisions,  have  ever  been  caused  by  the  Bible.  To  charge  this 
on  the  holy  law,  is  to  charge  it  on  God  Almighty  speaking  in  it.  But,  in  your  case, 
it  is  entirely  different.  We  offer  to  prove  that  your  rule  is  corrupt ;  that  your  head, 
the  pope,  is  corrupt ;  and  that  your  church  is  corrupt.  And  it  is  the  very  exercise  of 
your  infallible  rule  that  does  actually  cause  all  these  errors  and  divisions  in  the 
Romish  church! 

Now,  let  any  candid  man  look  at  the  court  and  priesthood  of  Rome,  where  this 
infallible  rule  is,  in  its  purest  influence  and  operation.  And,  gentleman,  you  know 
as  well  as  I  do,  what  that  eminent  divine  of  your  church  has  written,— namely, 
Claude  D'Espence ;— "  Shameful  to  relate !  They  gave  permission  to  priests  to 
keep  concubines,  upon  paying  an  annual  tax !"  This  is  only  a  tithe  of  sacerdotal 
impiety.  And  yet  you  affect  to  marvel  at  my  charging  them  w^ith  "immorality 
and  pollution."  Can  it  be  possible  that  you  do  not  know  what  "  chastity"  means  in 
the  lips  of  priests  ?  But  hear  the  same  doctor :  "  There  is  a  printed  book  which  has 
been  sold  for  a  considerable  time,  entitled  the  Taxes  of  the  Apostolic  Chancery,  from 
which  we  may  learn  more  enormities  and  crimes,  than  from  all  the  books  of  the  Sum- 
mists.  And  of  these  crimes,  there  are  some  which  persons  may  have  liberty  to  commit 
for  money  ;  while  absolution  from  all  of  them,  after  they  have  been  committed,  may 
be  bought."  D'Esp.  ad.  cap.  i.  Epist.  ad.  Titum.  deg.  ii.  Hence  the  pollution  of 
your  indulgences ;  hence  the  pollution  of  your  auricular  confessions,  hence  your  abso- 
lutions for  money  !     Every  one  of  your  victims  knows  the  truth  of  all  this ! 

Then,  in  reference  to  the  character  of  the  pontiff,  who  wields  this  "infallible  rule  ;'• 
I  quoted  out  of  Baronius,  in  my  last,  the  character  of  many  of  them.  To  this,  you 
replied,— "  Your  tirade  about  the  popes  is  out  of  place,  and  of  no  consequence,  &c." 
Most  logical  reply.  Nevertheless  it  is  strictly  in  point;  and  you  feel  it;  and  you 
cannot  question  one  of  my  quotations !  I  directed  the  public  eye  to  the  pontiff,  and 
his  throne,  beaming  with  holiness !  Your  own  writer,  Guiciardini,  speaking  of  the 
popes,  even  so  late  as  those  of  the  sixteenth  century,  says,— "He  was  esteemed  a 
good  pope  in  those  days,  who  did  not  exceed  in  wickedness,  the  worst  of  men !" 

Alexander  VI.  was  a  reproach  to  human  nature,  aud  died  by  a  mistake ;  taking 
that  poisoned  chalice  which  he  had  prepared  for  another !  Julius  II.  was  so  notori- 
ously wicked  that  "he  was  a  scandal  to  the  whole  church.  He  filled  Italy  with 
rapine,  war,  and  blood."  Pope  Leo  X.  Avas  not  a  believer  in  the  immortality  of  the 
•oul ;  nor  even  in  any  doctrine  of  Christianity ;  he  was  a  spiritual  juggler :  he  called 
the  gospel  of  Christ  "a  lucrative  fiction !"  And  to  a  cardinal  who  offered  him  conso- 
lation in  his  dying  moments,  by  a  text  of  holy  writ,  he  exclaimed  "  Away  tvith  your 
baubles  of  texts  r— Fan]  iii.  and  Julius  iii.  "were  such  licentious  characters  that  no 
modest  man  can  write,  or  read  their  lives  without  blushing."  The  popes  of  the  darker 
ages,  the  tenth  century,  for  instance,  and  up  towards  the  dawn  of  the  Reformation, 


46  ROMAW  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSt. 

were  in  all  respects,  rivals  of  the  Roman  pagan  Emperors.  To  their  utmost  licentious- 
ness, and  lewdness,  they  added  cruelty  more  revolting  than  even  that  of  theirs! 
Witness  John  X.,  John  XXII.,  and  XXIII.  and  Innocent  VIII.,  who  made  the 
▼allies  of  Piedmont  flow  like  streams,  with  the  blood  of  thousands  of  innocents ! 

If  there  was  the  operation  of  an  "infallible  rule"  in  the  Romish  church,  there 
would  at  least  be  some  traces  of  an  exact  and  conspicuous  harmony.  But  the  "  living 
rule  and  judge"  itself  has  caused  the  reverse  of  all  this.  The  example  of  iEneas 
Sylvius  was  honest  and  instructive.  Before  he  became  Pope  Pius  II.  he  had  zealously 
a^efended  the  council  of  Basil  against  the  Roman  court.  When  challenged  for  advo- 
cating opposite  sentiments  when  created  a  pope,  he  replied  that  "as  Sylvius,  he  was 
a  damnable  heretic,  hut  as  Pope  Pius  II.  he  loas  an  orthodox  pontiff:'  And  it  is  a 
notorious  fact,  that  in  the  struggles  of  Rome  to  gain  unlimited  power,  your  "  infallible 
Jud<Te"  originated  almost  all  the  political  wars  of  Europe;  and  all  the  divisions  in  the 
church  before  the  bishops  yielded  up  their  rights ;  and  before  the  temporal  princes 
Were  brought  to  place  their  necks  under  the  haughty  priests'  heel !  In  proof  of  this  I 
•refer  the  curious  reader  to  Hallam's  Hist,  of  the  Middle  Ages,  vol.  1.  chap.  7.  And 
Stillingfleet  on  the  Divisions  of  the  Rom.  Church,  ch.  5. 

In  reference  to  the  disputes  about  doctrines,  let  the  priests  name  one  contested  point 
settled,  finally,  by  this  infallible  judge.  Has  the  question  about  the  Virgin  Mary's 
"immaculate  conception,"  been  settled  ?  No.  Have  the  disputes  been  settled  rela- 
tive to  the  kind  of  v/orship  due  to  the  natural  blood  of  Christ,  which  raged  between  the 
Franciscans  and  Dominicans,  in  the  fourteenth  century ;  and  again,  a  century  after 
this,  under  Plus  II.  ?  No,  the  pope's  interf.^  rence  rather  made  it  worse.  Has  your 
infallibility  been  able  to  compose  the  theological  wars  between  the  Calvinistic 
Jansenists,  and  the  Arminian  Jesuits  ?  Every  infallible  interposition  made  the  flames 
blaze  still  more  fiercely.  Who  taught  servants  to  rebel  against  their  lawful  prince, 
iind  seize  the  throne?  Your  infallible  judge,  in  the  person  of  Pope  Zachary,  and  of 
Gregory  VIII.  who  put  his  heel  on  the  emperor's  neck. — "  Your  infallible,"  who  km- 
dled  the  terrible  wars  in  Germany,  and  over  all  Europe:  the  ghostly  arrogance  of 
your  infallible  judge,  climbing  to  civil  power,  and  setting  nation  against  nation  in 
Older  to  weaken  their  power. — ^Who  set  w^hole  nations  against  their  lawful  rulers  I 
•^The  infallible  pope,"  who  suspended  civil  lav.'s,  and  stopped  commerce;  and  spread 
civil  rebellion  over  the  land.  Who  massacred  the  Huguonots,  the  Waldenses,  and 
Lollards?  The  hired  assassins  of  the  "  infallible  judge"  of  Rome,  which  celebrated 
the  Parisian  massacre  by  a  solemn  Te  Deum !  Who  changed  the  doctrines  and  the 
decrees,  and  the  institutions  of  heaven?  Your  infallible  judge,— who  has  corrupted 
the  doctrines  of  the  Bible;  added  five  sacraments,  unknown  to  the  early  church,  and 
contrary  to  Christ's  solemn  commands :  who  has,  also,  instituted  the  various  orders 
of  lazy  and  vicious  monks,  friars,  and  nuns,  to  devour  the  surplus  product  of  the 
people's  Industry.  Who,  professes  to  convert  virtue  into  vice ;  and  vice  into  virtue  ? 
Let  yourBellarmine  answer, — "-the  pope,  who  can  transubstantiate  sin  into  duty,  and 
duty  into  sin  !  De  Rom.  Pontif.  Lib.  iv.  cap.  5.— Who  can  dispense  with  law,  and 
light?  Let  your  own  Pope  Gregory  hi.  in  8.  and  iv.,  answer  it: — ''Possumus  ^c. 
We  can  dispense  against  law  and  right!  See  also  Extravag.  Comm.  208.  And 
Labbeus,  vol.  19.  p.  924.  Who  seats  himself  on  God's  throne,  and  usurps  his  prer.o- 
satives  ?  Your  pope  who  airogates  the  right  and  power  to  grant  indulgences ;  who 
demands  confession  of  sin  to  be  made  to  him  and  his  priests ;  who  absolves  all  sins  at 
ft  regular  tariff;  who  delivers  from  purgatory;  and  sends  the  most  vicious  and  ungodly 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    COIfTROVERjST.  4^ 

men  to  heaven,  for  money,  according  to  the  chancery  book  mentioned  by  Espence. 
Who  founded  the  helHsh  Inquisition,  and  turned  loose  on  the  human  race,  such  a  mon- 
ster as  the  inquisitor  Torquemada  ?  "  The  infalUble  judge,"  your  pope,  whose 
servants  have  repeatedly  gratified  the  royal  courts  of  Spain  with  the  Moloch  sacrifices 
of  human  beings,  at  an  Auto  de  Fe! 

Such  are  tlie  legitimate  fruits  of  the  exercise  of  your  Rule.  Let  the  world  judge  of 
the  tree,  by  these  poisonous  and  deadly  fruits. 

VIII.  We  have  the  consent  of  the  greatest  and  best  of  the  Fathers  against  your  rule, 
and  most  decisively  in  favor  of  our  rule. 

These  quotations  I  shall  reserve  for  the  present.  They  will  come  in  appropriately 
at  the  close  of  our  discussion  on  the  rule  of  faith. 

IX.  Your  rule  is  the  instrument  by  which  you  have  established  claims  that  go  to 
annihilate  all  liberty,  civil  and  religious,  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  You  deny  God's 
word  to  the  people  unless  they  have  a  written  permission  from  a  priest,  condescending" 
to  allow  him  to  hear  his  iMaker  speaking  unto  hun !  But  with  even  this  permission, 
you  deny  him  the  rights  of  private  judgment,  or  even  to  think  with  that  soul  which  the 
Almighty  has  given  him.  He  must  think,  and  reason,  and  believe,  just  as  the  lordly 
priest  dictates.  The  prelate  exerts  the  same  tyranny  over  the  priest,  and  the  pop« 
over  the  prelate.  And  in  those  kingdoms  where  popery  is  the  established  religion, 
priestcraft  eats  out  the  very  existence  of  civil  Uberty.  I  point  to  Spain,  to  Rome, 
to  Naples,  to  Austria ;  and  say,  behold,  fellow  citizens,  the  melancholy  proof.  All 
the  doctrines  of  supremacy,  and  toleration,  and  union  of  church  and  state,  are  genuine 
popery,  begotten  and  nursed,  and  matm-ed  by  your  pope.  And  what  is  the  state  of 
ofur  Republic  ?  I  see  the  holy  and  lovely  genius  of  Liberty  walking  forth  over  our 
happy  plains,  in  her  fair  robes  and  glory,  and  calling  her  happy  votaries  to  every 
national  blessing  and  happiness.  And  near  her  pathway  we  perceive  a  fierce  lion 
in  his  den ;  his  face  peering  from  his  dark  and  disguised  cavern ;  but  his  claws  are 
pared,  and  his  teeth  broken :  he  is  flapping  his  lusty  sides  with  his  tail ;  waiting  with 
impatience  for  his  claws  to  grow,  and  his  teeth  to  be  whetted,  his  eyes,  the  while, 
gleaming  dark  and  unsubduable  wrath.  His  blood  shot  eyes  are  ever  on  the  fair 
Genius  of  Liberty,  and  he  is  meditating  a  ferocious  assault  upon  her,  the  moment  he 
prowls  forth,  when  the  sun  shall  be  setting  over  the  land  ! 

X.  x\nd  last:  neither  prelate  nor  priest  caM  give  their  flocks  any  decisive  evidence 
that  they  are  lauful,  and  ordained  jmstors. 

Were  it  even  possible  that  you  could  establish  apostolical  succession,  you  cannot 
prove  a  legal  ordination.  For,  first,  no  priest  has  the  true  and  essentially  necessary 
CALL  of  the  christian  people.  A  man  takes  it  into  his  head  to  go  to  a  catholic  semi- 
nary ;  after  his  term  is  rmt,  without  the  least  evidence  of  spiritual  conversion  by  the 
grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  presents  himself  to  the  bishop,  and  is  ordained,  and  then 
he  is  stationed  in  a  chapel ;  say  St.  Patrick's,  or  St.  Peter's.  The  gospel  call  of  a 
christian  people  is  never  asked.  And  I  do  question  gravely,  if  you,  gentlemen  priests, 
do  really  understand  what  a  gospel  call  is ! 

Second. — The  office  of  priest  as  you  take  it,  (not  as  my  Episcopalian  brethren  take 
it,)  is  unknown  to  the  Christianity  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is  an  outrageous  imposi- 
tion on  scripture  and  reason.  I  challenge  any  man  to  produce  me  one  passage,  justly 
and  correctly  translated,  in  all  the  New  Testament,  wherein  the  office  or  even  name 
of  priest  is  ever  applied  to  a  successor  of  the  apostohcal  teachers.  The  Greek  was 
used  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  tlie  New  Testament,     Now  there  is  not  ito  all  the  Greek 


48  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

thereof,  or  in  any  truly  and  correctly  translated  passage,  one  instance  of  the  true 
ministry  of  Christ  being  called  priests  in  the  visible  church.  By  assuming  the  name 
and  office  of  priest,  the  catholics  overthrow  the  priesthood  of  Christ,  and  his  one, 
final,  and  only  offering  of  a  sacrifice.  "By  this  one  offering,  he  has,  for  ever,  per- 
fected them  that  are  sanctified."  But  the  catholics  call  their  officiating  men  priests, 
simply,  and  only,  for  this  reason,  that  they  offer  up  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass, — even  a 
sacrifice,  in  the  room  of  Christ's  one,  only,  and  never  to  be  repeated  sacrifice !  By 
this  very  name  of  priest,  assumed  by  them,  do  they  deliberately  and  designedly  over- 
throw our  Lord's  blessed  and  perfect  atonement ! 

As  surely  then,  as  this  sacrifice  was  perfect,  and  needed  never  to  be  repeated,  eo 
surely  are  there  no  such  things  as  priests  to  offer  sacrifice  by  the  will  of  God ! 

Thirdly  and  last :  There  is  not  a  Romish  priest  in  existence,  who  can  prove  his 
ordination  :  because  not  one  of  them  can  prove  the  existence  of  the  bishop's  intention, 
in  that  rite.  In  this  "  Sacramental  rite,"  your  own  council  of  Trent,  Sess.  7.  declared 
that  he  who  denies  that  the  intention  of  the  officiating  minister  is  not  necessary  to  th£ 
efficacy  of  the  sacrament,  is  to  be  anathema.  Now,  unless  the  "  holy  bishop,"  who 
ordained  you,  gentlemen,  had  the  intention  in  his  soul,  conscience,  and  heart,  really 
and  truly  to  ordain  you  ;  or  if  his  mind  happened  to  waver ;  or  to  wander  after  some 
object, — in  fact,  if  the  talisman  and  magic  charm  of  intention  was,  in  any  measure, 
wanting,  then  you  are  not  ordained.  And  what  is  more,  if  you  venture  to  set  up  pre- 
tensions to  ordination  without  the  perfect  evidence  that  the  bishop  had  the  said  intention, 
you  are  not  only  not  ordained,  but  you  are  absolutely  under  the  holy  ban  of  the  council 
of  Trent ;  and  exposed  to  damnation  !  ! 

Now,  I  defy  any  of  you,  gentlemen,  with  all  the  aid  of  your  "  infallibility,"  to 
prove  this  intention.  The  witnesses  of  the  scene  cannot  prove  it.  You  cannot 
yourselves  prove  it ;  because  you  could  not  penetrate  the  mind  of  the  bishop.  The 
bishop  himself  cannot  prove  it :  he  can  produce  no  evidence  to  satisfy  any  one :  he 
has  not  the  least  recollection  on  the  subject.  None  but  God  can  tell  whether  he  had 
the  INTENTION.  But,  most  assuredly,  without  this  unattainable  evidence,  you  are 
ruined  !  Without  it,  not  a  soul  of  you  can  prove  your  ordination.  Without  it,  you 
are  living  in  a  mortal  sin, — for  any  thing  you  know  to  the  contrary. 

Hence  we  arrive  at  the  most  certain  conclusion  that  you  have  neither  an  "  infal- 
lible rule,"  nor  legitimate  pope,  prelate,  priest,  or  church,  before  God  or  man ! 

I  am.  Gentlemen,  Yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PRIESTS'  LETTER  V. 

It  opens  with  a  discussion  on  ingratitude, — Dr.  B's  claims  to  sympathy, — his  defeat, — his 

presumptuous  challenge  of  the  priests  of  New  York ! 

"  Your  next  claim  rests  on  your  claims  to  be  a  '  Gentleman,  and  Writer  for  the  Middle 
Dutch  Church ;'  and  this  claim  is  supported  by  language  not  usual  with  those  who  whisper 
with  the  interior  spirit  and  interpret  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost' " 

"You  say  the  Catholic  Clergy  are  *  a  polluted  and  immoral  Priesthood/  that  the  celibacy 
of  the  priests  is  a  ' pleasant  joke.'  The  same  foul  and  gross  slaver  is  sputtered  through  your 
last  letter." 

"This  third  claim  rests  on  your  letter  in  the  'Christian  Intelligencer' of  Saturday,  in 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY-  4f- 

^v*Aich  you  and  your  '  virtuous  ladies'  recommend  the  printing   of  the  obscene  tale  and 
slander,  'Lorette.'^' 

Note. — The  priests  allude  here  to  a  well  written  little  book  called  "  Lorette,  or  the  history 
of  the  daughter  of  a  Canadian  Nun,"  It  is  a  true  narrative  of  the  atrocious  morals  of  priests 
and  runs ;  and  contains  an  interesting  account  of  the  conversion  of  the  Nun,  her  mother, 
and  others.  The  truth  is,  the  picture  of  morals  drawn  from  the  life  in  this  book,  has 
galled  our  priests  beyond  measure, 

I  had  no  other  concern  in  this  book,  tlie  second  edition  of  which  is  already  nearly  sold, 
than  siniply  the  reading  of  the  M.  S.  and  recommending  it.  It  never  was  shown  to  "the  virtu- 
ous and  highly  intelligent  ladies  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church.'^  It  was  submitted  by  its  author, 
formerly  a  Presbyterian  minister  in  (Quebec,  to  a  few  eminently  intelligent  and  virtuous 
ladies ;  members  of  the  Presbyterian  church ;  and  they  cheerfully  accorded  to  its  author, 
their  hearty  recommendation  of  it, 

I  addi-essed  a  card  in  confidence,  to  Mr.  Levins,  the  rude  author  of  the  repeated  assaults 
on  "  the  virtuous  ladies  of  tlie  Middle  Dutch  church,"  stating  to  liim  the  above  facts.  After 
that,  instead  of  feeling  the  appeal  made  to  him,  as  to  a  gentleman,  he  became  ten  fold  more 
rude  and  insult>ig  !  We  proceed  with  extracts  : — 

"  Do  you  seriously.  Rev.  Sir,  intend  this  ansu-er  as  a  proof  that  the  Bible  is  the  word  of 
God  ?  Here  there  is  nothing  but  a  series  of  assertions.     Assertions  are  not  proofs.     Where 
is  the  form  of  argument, — where  the  'form  of  sound  words  ?'      Where  is  the  logical  concate 
nation  ?     Where  the  convincing  and  logical  conclusion  ?" 

That  you  may  knoio  the  work  you  have  to  execute,  we  i-egister  the  propositions  contain- 
ed in  your  answer. 

Question.     How  do  you  know  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God  ? 

Answer  1st.     "  I  know  it- from  its  external  evidence  of  prophecy."     Prove  it. 

2nd.  "  I  know  it  from  its  external  evidence  of  miracles."     Prove  it. 

3d.  "I  know  it  from  its  external  evidence  of  the  gift  of  tongues."     Prove  it. 

4th.  "  I  know  it -from  its  internal  evidence,  namely,  its  majesty."     Prove  it, 

-5th.   "  I  know  it  from  its  internal  evidence,  its  purity."     Prove  it. 

6th.   "  I  knov/  it  from  its  internal  evidence,  its  sublimity."     Prove  it. 

7th.  "I  know  it  from  its  internal  evidence,  its  efficacy  in  convincing,"     Prove  it. 

8th.  "  I  know  it  from  its  internal  evidence,  its  efficacy  in  converting."     Prove  it. 

9th.  "  I  know  it  from  its  internal  evidence,  its  efficacy  in  comforting."     Prove  it. 

10th.  "  I  know  it  from  its  internal  evidence,  its  perfect  harmony  in  all  its  parts."  Prove  it, 

11th.  ''  I  know  it  from  its  internal  evidence,  its  uncorrupted  preservation."     Prove  it. 

12th.  "  I  know  it  from  the  historical  evidence  of  its  -own  tradition."     Prove  it. 

13th.  "  I  know  it  from  the  Hebrews  and  Jews."     Prove  it. 

14th.  "  I  know  it  from  the  African  Church."     Prove  it. 

15th.  "J  know  it  from  tiie  Church  of  the  Albigenses  and  Waldenscs."     Prove  it. 

16th.  "  And  I  know  it  from  the  Roman  Church.^^     Prove  it. 

"Your  only  rule  of  faith  and  judge  of  controversy,  the  written  word  of  God,  speaking  to 
us  in  the  scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  is  utterly  abandoned  by  you. 
When  asked  to  prove  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God,  you  say  you  prove  it  "  from  the 
external  evidence  of  prophecy,  and  of  miracles :  and  tlie  gift  of  tongues,  and  that  the 
CHURCH  TELLS  YOU  SHE  HAS  THIS  EVIDENCE,  from  the  autliors  of  the  books  of  the  holy  scrip- 
tures." Here  then,  Rev.  Sir,  is  your  unequivocal  admission  of  what  we  contend  for.  We 
contend  that  without  the  testimony  of  the  Church,  the  Bible  could  never  be  proved  to  be  the 
word  of  God.     This  you  admit.'^ 

My  reader  is  fully  aware  that  I  have,  all  along,  admitted  tite  historical  tradition  of  the  chris- 
tian church,  as  a  prominent  portion  of  the  external  evidence. 

But  the  conclusion  drawn  in  the  next  sentence  by  our  priests,  is  no  less  extraordinary, 
ihan  the  above  discovery. 

"Therefore" — that  is  "  because  the  Bible  is  thus  proved  to  be  the  inspired  word  ofGoc'  " — 

G 


50  ROMA>'  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

"therdbre,  Sir,  the  written  word  of  God,  in  the  scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the 
New,  is  not  the  rule  of  faith  established  by  Christ !  It  is  an  article  of  christian  belief,  that  the 
Bible  is  the  word  of  God.  But  this  article  of  belief  could  not  be  known  from  the  Bible  alone, 
how  then  can  it  be  said  Christ  established,  as  a  rule  of  faith,  that  which  never  could  bring 
man  to  the  faith  of  the  divinity  of  the  scriptures.  Strange,  Rev.  Sir,  that  so  able  a  divine  am 
you,  never  detected  the  absurdity  of  your  Protestant  rule  of  faith  and  judge  of  controversy, 
until  jt  has  been  fully  demonstrated  to  you,  by  your  Catholic  antagonists." 

"If  you  will  but  consult  the  learned  work  of  Adamus  Contzin,  on  the  four  gospels,  and 
also  the  great  work  of  Serrerius,  you  will  find  that  no  fewer  than  twenty  several  books  of 
scripture  have  wholly  perished.  '  These  books,'  says  Dr.  BroWnlee,  *  referred  to  by  deists 
and  Romish  priests,  such  as  Jasher  and  certain  epistles  and  gospels,  were  not  given  by 
inspiration.'     The  trick  of  your  design  is  obvious. 

Here  our  priests  specify  the  books  lost.  "  The  book  of  the  wars  of  the  Lord ;" — "  the  book  of 
Nathan,  "  of  Jddo,"  "  of  Gad" — "  the  epistle  from  Laodicea."  They  add,  in  the  profound 
science  of  Biblical  lore,  and  settle  a  mooted  point  which  has  divided  the  first  scholars, — al- 
though they  have  yet  to  learn  the  Hebrew  alphabet  ?  St.  Matthew,  whose  Hebrew  gospel 
did  not  exist,  in  his  c.  xxvii.  9,  quotes  words  spoken  by  the  prophet  Jeremy,  which  are  not 
new  found  in  the  writings  of  the  prophet.  St.  Matthew,  also  c.  ii.  v.  23,  says,  "it  was 
spoken  by  ths  prophets" — ^"  He  shall  be  called  a  Nazarene."  Where,  in  any  of  the  pro- 
phetic books  now  existing,  is  Christ  called  a  Nazarene?  The  books,  then  of  the  prophets 
here  alluded  to  by  St.  Matthew,  must  have  perished. 

"This  was  the  belief.  Rev.  Sir,  of  the  great  St.  John  Chrysostom,  whom  we  are  better 
pleased  to  follow,  than  the  preacher  in  the  Middle  Dutch  Church.  In  his  9th  Hom.  on  St. 
Matt,  he  says,  '  many  of  the  prophetical  monuments  have  perished.  For  the  Jews  being 
careless,  and  not  only  careless,  but  also  impious,  they  have  carelessly  lost  some  of  these 
monuments,  others  they  have  partly  burnt,  partly  torn  in  pieces.  Saint  Justin,  writing 
against  Tryphon,  shews  that  the  Jews  maliciously  destroyed  many  of  the  books  of  the  Old 
'Testament.  Yet  against  the  testimony  of  the  scriptures,  and  in  opposition  to  the  most  re- 
spectable historical  evidence,  preacher  Brownlee  asserts,  'there  is  no  inspired  book  lost!' 
Truly,  Rev.  preacher. 

'  Q,uem  Deus  vult  perdere,  prius  dementat  !* 
Anc  your  insane  flippancy  cf  assertion,  if  not  gross  ignorance  of  the  subject  on  which  you 
writo,  places  you  before  the  'christian  public,'  in  the  ludicrous  attitude  of  a.  frantic  fanatic, 
declaiming  to  a  conclave  of  virtiious  ladies,  on  the  all  sufficiency  of  a  mutilated  rule  of  faith' 
while  you  leave  to  your  opponents  the  rich  and  noble  eloquence  of  tlie  Chrysostoms,  the 
the  Gregory's,  the  Basils,  the  Justins,  the  Cyprians,  &c." 

"  You  iinblushingly  proclaim  us  idolators,  because  we  venerate  the  saints  of  God,  and  pay 
a  decent  respect  to  images." 

Here  follow  pretended  quotations  from  Lit*fiC7 and Melancthon,  in  which  these  worthies,  th« 
last  in  the  world  who  would  do  it,  are  made  to  praise  and  laud,  and  almost  worship,  the  pu- 
i-ity  of  "  Holy  Mother  !" 

Next,  there  follows  a  uniq-ue  illustration  of  a  notorious  Jesuit  maxim,  namely  ;  "  when 
you  aie  charged  with  a  sentiment,  or  a  crime,  retort,  and  deliberately  charge  it  back  on  your 
ice  ;  and  make  him  as  ridiculous  as  you  can." 

"  No  priest,  says  Dr.  Brownlee,  can  prove  his  ordination,  for  he  cannot  prove  that  th« 
"bishop  who  ordained  him,  had  the  '  magic  charm  of  intention.'  Really,  most  worthy  preacher, 
'■*  writer,'  and  ' gejitJeman,'  v/e  must  greet  you,  &c. — "' 

"  Your  intellect  has  strange  biasses;  its  propensity  tc  '  squinting,'  is,  we  fear,  incurable. 
How  fitly  it  illustrates  '  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost,' — 'Though  thou  shouldst 
bray  a  fool  in  arnorter  with  a  pestle,  yet  will  not  his  foolishness  depart  from  him.'  Youa 
doctrine  of  intention  js  among  the  most  ludicrous  that  could  emanate  from  a  rheumatic  brain. 
It  would  uproot  all  confidence  between  man  and  ma^i,  dissolve  the  laws  of  every  system  of 
compact,  and  taint  v/ith  suspicion  every  pledge  of  trust.     But  to  apply  your  puerile  argument 


ROMAN     CATIIvOLIC    CGN'TR-OVEIIST.  jl 

to  yourself.  In  the  course  of  mmisteriai  duties,  you  are  asked  to  baptize  a  child.  You  bap- 
tize it.  According  to  your  law  of  intention  the  parents  of  the  child  cannot  prove  your  inten- 
tion to  baptize,  therefore  the  child  is  not  baptized  !  This  is  your  wondrous  logic.  Will  the 
preacher  who  did  concoct  it.  ever  prove  his  rule  of  faith?  No.  But,  gentle  Doctor,  are 
you  a  christian  ?  Were  you  baptized?  Certainly  not ;  for,  according  to  your  own  doctrine, 
you  cannot  prove  the  intention  of  the  parson  who  baptised  you.  Ergo,  you  are  no  christian. 
Q,.  E.  D.  You  interpret  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost'  to  your  '  virtuous'  cro- 
nies. Can  they  have  faith  in  the  interpretation  ?  They  cannot  prove  your  intention.  What 
think  you  of  your  logic,  dear  Doctor?  You  are  now,  Rev.  Sir,  openly  and  effectually  de- 
feated, on  your  rule  of  faith.  " 

"  You  are  informed  that  the  Jews,  during  their  captivity  at  Babylon,  lost  the  knowledge  of 
the  old  Hebrew  tongue,  in  which  the  law  and  the  prophets  were  written,  and  in  the  after  period 
of  their  existence,  spoke  Syriac,  a  mixture  of  Hebrew  and  Chaldaic.  Those  who  understood 
the  Hebrew  were  few.  It  is  also  admitted  by  all,  that,  before  the  coming  of  Christ,  there  wa.i 
no  Syriac  version  of  the  holy  scripture.  Hence,  for  fourteen  generations,  the  Jev/s  had  not 
the  Bible  in  their  own  original  vernacular  language.  But  the  law  and  the  prophets  were 
read  in  their  synagogues,  and  the  psalms  were  sung  in  a  language  they  did  not  understand." 

The  letter  is  closed  with  a  quotation  from  Roscoe,  in  which  an  evlogium  is  gravely  uttered 
on  the  atheistic  and  profligate  popes  ! 

But  we  give  them  credit  for  the  wittiest  and  truest  sentence,  which  closes  their  letter  V. 
It  is  a  bit  of  choice  sarcasm,  but  purely  accidental ;  for  our  priests  are  *  smart'  only  by  chance. 
Comparing  the  church  of  Rome  to  the  bark  of  St.  Peter,  they  very  honestly  call  the  whole 
Romish  priesthood,  "  the  practised  crew  that  man  the gocdly  vessel! '^ 


DISSERTATION 

ON    THE    DIVINE     INSPIRATION    OF    THE     HOLY    SCRIPTURES. 

We  were  unwilling  to  be  turned  out  of  our  direct  course  in  order  to  meet  infidel 
objections.  The  following  argument,  therefore,  was  placed  more  than  once  before 
our  Letters,  while  the  Priests  reiterated  their  deistical  questions. 

Priests  :  1st.  "  How  do  you  know  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God  ?" 
Ans.  1  St.  From  the  external  evidence  of  prophecy^  which  has  been,  and  is  now 
fulfilling  before  our  eyes:  (See  the  proof  in  Bishop  Newton  on  the  prophecies)  and 
of  miracles  by  the  inspired  writers,  and  the  gift  of  tongues  :  by  which  all  the 
nations  heard  the  gospel  in  their  own  native  language.  Also  from  internal  evidence  ; 
namely,  their  majesty  which  every  christian,  and  every  reasonable  man  may  see  on 
every  page,  contrasted  with  every  human  writer :  from  their  purity  which  no  man 
could  have  conceived,  or  framed  in  his  writings  ;  from  their  sublimity^  in  the  concep- 
tions and  descriptions  of  God,  of  heaven,  of  hell,  which  no  uninspired  man  could 
execute :  from  their  ejjicacy  iu  convincing  and  converting  sinners ;  and  comforting 
the  saints :  no  human  composure  ever  has  done  this.  The  sacred  writings,  which 
have  been  the  instrument  containing  the  gospel,  have  done  what  no  human  writer 
can  do,  or  ever  has  done  :  and,  from  their  uncorrupt  preservation.  While  the  whole 
persecuting  power  of  pagan  Rome  was  bent  on  their  destruction  ;  and  innumerable 
errorists  and  heretics  sought  to  corrupt  them, — neither  they,  nor  Rome  have  succeeded. 
All  the  Roman  priests,  and  all  the  Voltaire  and  Paine  school,  being  of  one  mind  here, 
cannot  prove  one  sentence,  far  less  one  inspired  book,  lost.  And  we  challenge  these 
bold  slanderers  of  God's  "pure  and  perfect  word,"  to  prove  one — even  one  of  their 
sljnders. 


5^  Roman  catholic  controversT. 

Moreover,  the  Bible  is  proved  to  be  the  word  of  God  from  the  historical  evidenc*e 
OF  tradition.  To  the  christian  church,  as  well  as  the  Jewish  church,  were  com- 
mitted the  oracles  of  God.  The  hundreds  of  thousands  of  christians  who  lived  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles,  received  these  inspired  books  from  the  apostles,  and  evangelists  : 
and  being  fully  satisfied  of  their  inspiration,  by  their  internal  evidence,  and  by  the 
miracles  and  prophesies,  and  tongues,  given  in  proof,  by  God's  inspired  servants,  the 
christian  members  of  the  Church  transmitted  them  to  their  children,  with  their  certi- 
fication of  this  evidence  ;  and  they  to  their  children,  until  they  have  reached  us. 
And  all  the  sections  of  the  churches  have  done  this.  The  Bible  k  handed  down  to  us 
by  the  Jews  and  Hebrews :  by  the  S3Tiac  churches,  still  existing  in  India ;  as  Dr. 
Buchanan  who  lately  visited  them,  testifies  :  and  by  the  Greek  church,  more  ancient 
and  more  pure  than  that  of  Rome  :  and  by  the  famous  African  churches,  who  in  the 
days  of  Augustine  absolutely  denied  their  dependence  on  the  Roman  Church:  by 
the  Waldensian  churches,  descended  from  the  ancient  Italick  churches  :  and  who 
possessed  the  very  ancient  Latin  version,  called  the  Old  Italick  version  of  the  Bible, 
before  the  vulgate  was  written  :  b}-  the  ancient  and  apostolic  churches  of  the  Culdees 
in  England,  in  Scotland,  in  Ireland,  and  also  in  Spain, — in  all  ofwhich  the  gospel 
flourished  for  centuries  before  they  were  overrun  by  the  idolatrous  emisaries  of 
Popery  !  And  finally,  they  have  been  transmitted  also  by  the  humble  aid  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  church.  Moreover, -all  the  ancient  versions  of  the  Bible,  made  in  the  first, 
second,  and  third  centuries,  in  Asia,  in  x\frica,  and  Europe,  have  the  valid  authority 
of  so  many  most  undoubted  traditions  confirming  the  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the 
original  word  of  God :  and  lastly,  the  enemies  of  the  church,  such  as  Celsus,  Por- 
phyry, Zlosimus,  and  Julian  the  apostate,  do  all  bear  their  testimony  to  the  authenti- 
city and  genuineness  of  the  apostolical  writings.. 

Thus,  on  the  strength  of  this  full  and  irresistible  moral  evidence,  do  we  believe  the 
Bible  to  be  the  w^ord  of  God.  AVe  are  not  so  weak  and  bigotted,  and  foolish  as  to 
believe  it,  mereh''  on  the  church's  tradition.  The  internal  evidence  is  as  strong,  this 
day,  on  our  minds,  as  it  ever  was  ;  and  we  have  the  constant  fulfilling  of  predictions 
before  our  eyes,  over  the  churches,  and  the  world.  And,  finally,  we  see  it-  manifestly 
PROVED  in  the  conviction  and  conversion  of  CTery  one  that  is  brought  into  the  foM  of 
God,  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Every  christian  conversion  by  the  gospel  read  and  preached, 
is  a  fresh  and  irresistible  demonstration  that  the  Bible  is  most  certainly,  and  evidently 
the  word  of  God. 

Priests  :  2d.  "  How  do  you  know  which  books  were  written  b}'  divine  inspiration  ? 
The  Bible  cannot  prove  its  own  inspiration." 

Ans.  2d.  No  Roman  Catholic,  or  Protestant,  so  far  as  I  know,  ever  said  to  a  deist, 
that  the  Bible  proves  its  own  authenticity  and  genuineness.  Your  Bull  Unigenitus, 
for  instance,  does  not,  and  cannot  prove  its  own  authenticity  ;  the  Magna  Charta,.  and 
our  own  Declaration  of  Independence  do  not  prove  their  own  authenticity.  None 
but  papists  can  mistake  here.  Their  defective  education,  and  their  wretched  theolog}-, 
induce  them  to  think  that  there  is  only  one  form  of  evidence  to  establish  the  authenti- 
city and  divinity  of  the  Bible, — and  that  is, — ''Holy  Mothers  testimony  and  autho- 
rity r 

We  know  '^'  which  books  were  written  by  divine  inspiration,  in  the  following  per- 
fectly satisfactory  manner.. 

The  authors  of  each  of  the  books  of  the  holy  scriptures,  first  gave  evidence  before 
the  church,  by  working  miracles,  by  prophesying,  and  speaking  tongues,  that  they 


ROIL&N    CATHOLIC    CONTROV£RST«  JO 

were  the  accredited  messengers  of  God.  This  being  settled,  they  wrote  those  books 
which  bear  their  names,  at  the  command  of  God.  **  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  was  the 
evidence  that  they  were  enjoined  to  speak  and  write.  This  estabhshed  their  divine 
inspiration.  (See  Hos.  viii.  12 — ^John  xx.  31 — Rom.  xv.  4;  2  Tim.  iii.  16 — Rev.  i. 
11  &c.  &c.,  also  the  beginning  of  each  of  Paul's  epistles.)  Having  written  them  by 
inspiration,  they  delivered  them  publicly  to  the  church,  certified  in  their  hand  writing. 
This  established  their  authenticity  and  genuineness :  the  church  saw  and  knew  that 
these  holy  authors  did  most  certainly  write  the  books  which  bear  their  name.  And 
the  churches  in  Asia,  and  in  Greece,  and  in  Africa,  and  in  Italy,  and  in  all  Europe, 
handed  them  down  from  generation  to  generation,  just  as  the  Magna  Charta  of  Eng- 
land, or  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  by  tradition,  handed  down  from  age  to  age. 
And,  finally,  just  these  books  which  compose  the  Bible,  and  no  other  books  whatever, 
have  had  these  evidences.  And,  thus,  we  know,  by  the  most  certain  demonstration, 
what  books  were  given  to  us  by  divine  inspiration  ;  and  what  books  are  not  inspired ; 
and  therefore,  apocryphal. 

Priests  :  3d.     '*  Does  the  Bible  contain  the  whole  word  of  God  ?'* 

Ans.  3d.  It  does.  And  the  same  evidence  which  establishes  the  fact  of  their  di- 
vine inspiration,  fully  establishes  this.  There  is  no  inspired  book  lost.  Those  books 
referred  to  by  deists  and  the  Romish  priests,  as  lost,  such  as  Jasher,  and  certain  epis- 
tles and  gospels,  were  not  given  by  inspiration.  And  we  defy  all  the  priesthood  of 
Rome  to  prove  their  inspiration. 

Let  them  not  shift  the  question.  We  make  a  public  call  on  you,  priests,  to  prove 
the  inspiration  of  these  lost  books.  If  they  do  not  finally  enter  on  the  proof  of  their 
inspiration,  then  we  shall  set  it  down  as  a  public  recantation  of  their  error;  and  a 
confession  of  their  utter  unfitness  to  prove  their  position.  We  know  they  cannot : 
and  we  are  assured  they  dare  not  offer  any  defence  of  their  inspiration.  Remember 
your  own  words,  the  mere  fact  of  their  being  written  by  a  prophet,  or  an  Apostle,  as 
Barnabas,  is  no  evidence,  alone,  of  their  inspiration.  Produce  the  evidence  of  their 
divinity  which  we  have  for  "all  scripture."  You  cannot:  and  you  know  that  you, 
cannot^ 

Gentleman,  it  is  just  as  impossible  that  any  of  the  inspired  books  could  be  lost,  by 
the  carelessness  of  the  church,  or  the  cunning  of  the  enemy,  as  it  is  impossible  that  a 
book  of  the  common  law  of  the  United  States,  or  of  old  England,  or  any  part  of  the 
Magna  Charta,  or  our  Declaration  of  Independence,  can  be  abstracted  and  lost! 

Such  a  loss  could  not  take  place  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles;  for  they  could  bear 
their  testimony  to  all  that  was  inspired ;  and  against  all  that  was  forged.  It  could  not 
take  place  after  their  death,  for  before  the  death  of  the  last  of  the  Apostles,  namely, 
John — copies  of  the  holy  scriptures,  even  of  the  entire  and  perfect  canon,  were  mul- 
tiplied over  Asia,  Africa  and  Europe. 

Priests :  4.     How  can  you  prove  that  the  scriptures  alone  are  the  sufficient  rule  ?" 

Ans.  4.  By  the  strongest  testimony  that  can  exist :  namely,  Hie  testimony  of 
Almighty  God.  And  bold  and  unblushing  must  that  christian  deist  be  who  shall  dare 
to  give  the  lie  to  the  Almighty.  Psalm  xix. — "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect :  con- 
verting the  soul ;  the  testimony  of  tlie  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple :  *'  the 
judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and  altogether  righteous."  "By  them  is  thy  servant 
warned ;  and  in  keeping  of  them  there  is  great  reward."  The  whole  of  Psalm  cxix ; 
and  particularly  these: — "Through  thy  precepts  I  get  understanding: — "Thy  word 
is  a  lamp  to  ray  feet;  a  light  to  my  path."     "  Thy  word  is  very  pure :"  &c,     Isaiahi 

6* 


54  ROMAN   CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

viii.  19,  20.  "  If  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light 
in  them."  John  v.  39.  "  Search  the  scriptures,  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eter- 
nal Hfe:  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me."  John  xvii.  17.  "  Sanctify  them 
through  thy  truth.  Thy  word  is  truth."  2  Pet.  i.  19.  "We  have  a  more  sure  word 
of  prophecy,  whereunto  ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed,"  &c.  2  Tim.  iii.  15.  "The 
holy  scriptures  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation,"  &e.  And,  finally,  they 
make  the  "  the  man  of  God  perfect,  and  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works." 

I  shall  conclude  this,  by  noticing  briefly  several  vulgar  errors  of  Roman  catholic 
priests,  which  we  deem  incurable.  1st.  The  invariable  reply  of  a  priest  when  asked 
what  he  conceives  to  be  the  Protestant  rule  of  faith,  is  this  :  "  The  scriptures  as  under- 
stood by  every  person  of  sound  judgment  are  their  only  rule  of  faith.'''  This  is  as  wan- 
ton a  misrepresentation  as  would  be  that  of  a  criminal  who  atlfilrms  that,  "  it  is  not  the 
law  of  the  land,  hut  my  own  construction  of  that  law,  by  which  I  am  to  be  tried  !" — 
Besides,  we  object  to  this,  because  it  actually  palms  on  the  Protestant  church,  the 
very  error  which  we  condemn  in  popery!  The  Roman  catholic  rule  of  faith,  is  this: 
"The  whole  word  of  God,  written  and  unwritter,  as  explained  by  the  catholic  or 
universal  church,"  That  is, — as  it  is  explained  by  the  fallible  judgments  of  each  of 
the  faUible  individuals  who  constitute  that  church.  It  is  ludicrous  that  the  best  of 
their  polemics  should  thus  charge  on  us  the  essential  principle  of  their  own  system  ; 
and  then  maintain  a  lusty  warfare  against  us  for  holding  it ! 

2d.  The  Romish  priests  always  assume  it  as  a  fact  that  they  are  the  succes- 
sors of  the  apostles ;  and  are,  by  heaven,  invested  with  power  equal  to  them !  3d. 
Tliey  denv  that  Christ  commanded  his  apostles  to  write  any  of  the  New  Testament 
scriptures !  He  commanded  his  apostles  "  to  go  and  teach  all  nations."  "  And  this," 
say  they,  by  a  most  arbitrary  construction,  "always  means  oral  instruction.  They 
were  sent  to  preach,  not  to  write  books!" 

Christ  certainly  commanded  them  to  write  the  New  Testament  scriptures.  See 
Rev.i.  10,  11,  17,  19;  Luke  xxiv.  44,  47;  2d  Tim,  iii.  16. 

And  if  he  did  not,  then  the  New  Testament  is  not  given  by  his  inspiration.  For 
God's  act  of  inspiring  them  to  write,  was  his  act  of  commanding  them  to  write  the 
New  Testament.  If  they  wrote  without  his  command,  they  went  beyond  their  com- 
mission. Such  is  the  inveterate  spirit  of  deism  pervading  popery  !  4th.  That  "the 
Bible  is  the  most  obscure  book  in  the  world."  This  simply  means  that  the  system 
of  popery  cannot  be  found  in  it  by  common  readers.  And  as  the  priests  alone  can 
find  that  in  the  scriptures,  and  other  writings,  which  God  never  put  there,  nor  au- 
thorized ;  hence  it  is  necessary  to  the  very  existence  of  popery,  that  the  priests  shouid 
be  constituted  the  only  persons  who  can  explain  scripture,  and  keep  their  victim's  con- 
science! 5th.  That  "  Christians,  previous  to  the  writing  of  the  New  Testament,  had 
not  the  scriptures  as  a  rule."  This  is  spoken  in  the  face  of  clear  evidence  to  the  con- 
traiy.  "  Search  the  scriptures,"  said  our  Lord.  They  had  the  Old  Testament,  and 
the  benefit  o»f  inspired  teachers.  Lastly:  The  Roman  Cathohc  priests  betray  at 
every  step,  the  painful  deficiency  of  their  education.  Biblical  literature  forms  no 
portion  whatever  of  their  education.  On  no  other  principle  can  we  account  for  their 
ludicrous  blunderings.  For  instance,  our  priests  confound  internal  evidence  with 
external,  as  in  the  following  quotation  from  their  letter  V. : — "But  if  you  can  produce 
no  text  which  can  precisely  determine  the  number  of  canonical  books,  then  it  evidently 
follows  tliat  there  is  something  to  be  believed,  which  cannot  be  found  in  the  scriptures 
themselves,  and,  by  consequence,  the  written  word  of  God  alone,  is  neither  a /w/^  nor 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  55 

Siijficient  rule  of  faith,  If  you  could  have  produced  the  text,  you  would  not  have 
referred  us  to  the  passag-es  in  holy  writ,  which  can  never  prove,  por  were  they  ever 
intended  to  prove,  that  the  scriptures  alone,  are  a  sutficient  rule  of  faith."  See  reply 
in  No.  2,  above. 


LETTER  VI. 

TO    DOCTORS    POWER,    VARELA,    AXD    MR.    LEVINS. 

Rev.  Gentlemen. — I  finished  in  my  last,  my  ten  arguments  against  your  Roman 
catholic  rule  of  faith.  I  have  reason  to  know  that  the  enlightened  public  are  satisfied 
with  the  perfect  conclusiveness  of  these  arguments.  Your  pretensions  to  an  infallible 
rule  being  entirely  annihilated, — the  claims  set  forth  in  behalf  of  our  rule  and  Judge 
of  controvers}',  are  of  course,  without  a  rival,  from  3"our  annihilated  system.  I  call 
the  attention  of  the  Protestant,  and  Roman  catholic  public  to  the  fact  that  the  priests 
have  not  examined  nor  refuted  one  of  these  te?i  arguments:  they  have  not  even  ap- 
proached one  of  them.  The  strongest  thing  they  have  said  is  this  ; — "  What  has  all 
tliis  to  do  with  the  defence  of  your  Protestant  rule  ?"  This  is  really  amusing.  So 
utterly  destitute  do  you  seem  to  be  of  the  true  logic,  and  the  scientific  rules  of  defence 
and  offence, — that  even  while  your  whole  magazine  of  ammunition  was  in  the  act  of 
being  blown  up,  about  your  ears,  you  gravely  ask  us,  "  pray  what  has  all  this  to  do 
with  your  defence  of  the  Protestant  rule?"  I  had  thought,  gentlemen,  that  there 
were  only  two  claims  set  up ;  that  of  the  Protestant  rule  in  the  holy  scriptures ;  in 
which  the  infallible  Judge,  namely.  Almighty  God,  the  Spirit  speaks  unto  us,  by  that 
which  is  already  revealed :  and  closed  for  ever,  and  pronounced  by  the  Almightv, 
perfect :  and  all-sufficieut  '*to  make  the  man  of  God  perfect :"  and  on  the  other  hand, 
the  Roman  catholic  rule ;  which  your  church,  in  fatal,  but  characteristic  union  with 
deists,  sets  up  in  opposition  to  the  holy  bible  :  even  as,  with  unparalleled  daring  and 
irapiet}^  you  place  the  pope  and  council  on  the  throne  of  judgment,  in  rivalship  with 
Almighty  God  !  And  of  these  two  rival  claimants,  one  of  them,  namely,  j'our  rule, 
and  the  whole  of  your  presumptuous  assertions,  being,  I  trust,  demolished  and  annihi- 
lated :  of  course,  our  rule,  stands  forward  alone,  and  without  any  rival. 

I  shall  now  redeem  my  pledge,  and  take  up  your  various  objections,  errors,  and 
misstatements.  I  have  postponed  the  examination  of  them,  to  this  place  ;  because 
every  one  saw  that  you  threw  them  out, — not  at  all  because  you,  yourselves,  believed 
them :  but  simply  because  you  availed  yourselves  of  every  difficulty,  and  obstacle, 
to  impede  us  in  our  demolition  of  your  rule.  You  had  not  the  merit,  nor  even  the 
means  of  throwing  down  a  golden  apple,  to  turn  us  out  of  our  course. 

I.  One  of  the  main  objections,  and  that  on  which  my  opponents  establish  the  last 
hopes  of  their  sinking  cause,  is  taken  from  their  view  of  traditions. — Their  church 
like  that  of  the  Hebrew  church,  had  the  oracles  of  God,  committed  to  them;  fhey  con- 
veyed them  down  to  these  times.  This  seems  to  be  an  innocent  position  :  but  it  was 
assumed  as  a  position  on  which  to  plant  the  Antichristian  lever,  by  which  they  have 
moved  and  convulsed  the  civil  and  political  world.  "  They  have  been,"  as  Augus- 
tine says,  "  the  librarian  of  the  church;"  or  as  another  shrewdly  observes,  "the  mere 
carrier  of  the  mail  bag;"  to  transmit  to  a  whole  vicinity,  the  contents  of  that  mail 
bag,  for  their  own  benefit,  and  that  of  others. 


56  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

But  could  the  gravest  spectator  refrain  from  laughter,  did  the  post  hoy^  summoning 
the  community  together,  gravely  harangue  them  thus?  "It  is  well  known  to  you  all, 
that  the  general  government  has  committed  to  my  trust  one  of  the  lines,  by  which  the 
contents  of  this  mail  bag  is  carried  :  therefore  by  virtue  of  this  trust-worthiness,  I  de- 
mand the  right  and  honor  of  being  all  the  carriers  of  all  the  lines  in  the  world !  I 
claim  also  the  right  of  keeping,  in  my  power,  all  the  contents  of  the  mail  lines ;  and  of 
enacting  my  own  personal  explanations  of  every  letter  in  them,  and  those  to  whom 
they  are  directed,  have,  as  every  one  knows,  no  right,  nor  power,  whatever, 
to  do  this  !  And,  hark  ye,  I  am  not  to  be  trifled  with :  I  have  a  right,  as  mail-carrier, 
to  make  as  much  gain  of  you  all  as  I  can.  And  let  the  obstinate  know,  in  a  word, 
that  the  fires  of  purgatory  await  every  opposer  of  rny  will !  I  have  not  done  yet, — I 
claim,  moreover,  in  right  of  being  letter  carrier,  to  have  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
power  over  each  soul  in  the  whole  district  through  which  I  pass.  It  is  my  right  to 
fix  your  destiny  here,  to  open  heaven  to  you,  or  shut  its  gate  irrevocably,  for  the 
DUES  paid  to  me  according  to  my  will  and  pleasure ! 

This  modest  claim  set  up  by  the  post  hoy,  is  literally  what  the  pope  and  his  priests 
^ave  set  up.  Because  they  happened  to  be  the  mail  carriers  of  one  line  :  because  as 
one  section  of  the  church,  they  carried  the  Bible  down  to  their  vicinity :  they  are  the 
entire  carriers  of  all  lines ;  and  they  arrogate  extravagant  ghostly  claims  to  spiritual 
dominion  over  men's  souls,  bodies,  and  property !  Had  it  not  been  for  the  incon- 
ceivable blindness  and  ignorance  of  the  dark  ages,  these  claims  would  have  been 
received  only  with  indignation, — or  to  say  the  least,  with  peals  of  laughter !  The 
post  boy's  ravings  were  soberness  compared  to  this. 

II.  The  whole  of  their  doctrine  touching  traditions,  is  involved  in  fanaticism 
and  extravagance.     For  instance  : — 

1st.  Availing  themselves  of  the  ambiguity  of  the  word,  they  use  it  to  mean,  at  one 
time,  the  transmission  of  the  Bible  to  our  times  :  at  another,  to  mean  those  oral  doc- 
trines, undefined,  invisible,  artificial,  and  intangible, — that  are  convenient  for  a  mis- 
chievous aud  designing  power, — as  an  instrument  to  originate,  and  establish  new 
doctrines  and  rites. 

2d.  The  Romish  church  holds  that,  by  tradition  alone,  the  entire  evidence  of  the 
divine  inspimtion  of  the  Bible  is  established.  She  merges  the  whole  intermil  evidence 
and  the  other  branches  of  the  external,  in  this,  for  one  grand  selfish  object,  namely, — 
gain. 

3.  She  pronounces  judgment  in  her  own  behalf,  that  she  is  the  only  church  of 
God.  Aud  all  the  churches  that  have  flourished  in  Syria,  Greece,  Africa,  and 
Europe,  are  in  her  all  absorbing  and  ambitious  views,  utterly  nothing  i  Hence,  no 
attention  is  to  be  paid  to  their  historical  monuments,  or  their  transmission  of  the 
scriptures ! 

4.  Having  arrogated  to  herself  this  exclusive  title,  she  assumes  the  right  of  determin- 
in«y  that  her  exclusive  tradition  bestows  on  the  Bible  all  the  evidence  necessary 

o 

to  settle  its  inspiration,  and  its  authority ! 

5.  This  simple  handing  down  of  the  Bible,  she  says,  gives  her  the  entire  right  of 
not  only  determining  the  authority,  but  of  fixing  the  meaning  of  God's  word  :  and  of 
dictating  a  religioai  to  the  conscience  of  all  God's  subjects.  Nay,  like  the  tyrant,  intox- 
icated with  the  lury  of  ambition,  she  claims  from  the  humble  act  of  conveying  down 
the  scriptures,  aa  unbounded  ghostly  poorer  over  all  the  souls,  and  the  bodies,  and  the 
property  of  men  !     She  is  thence  a  Ood  on  earth :    she  pardons  sin,  and  creates  new 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSf.  &f 

objects  of  worship,  by  the  power  of  canonizing.  And  to  crown  the  whole  tale  of  her 
unparalleled  claims,  wherever  she  meets,  even  in  the  pages  of  Protestants,  with  the 
word  Church,  or  Catholic;  she  assumes  it  as  granted  that  she  only  is  meant,  and 
that  all  our  Protestant  champions,  even  when  opposing  her,  meant  only  homage  to 
her,  because  they  defended  '•  the  church,"  the  "  catholic,"  or,  general  Church, 
which  of  course,  could  mean  only  the  Roman  sect !  Such  unheard  of  reasoning,  gerv- 
tleraen,  pervades  all  your  letters. 

II.  There  is  a  peculiar  sentiment  interwoven  in  all  the  abjections  of  my  opponents-: 
and  it  is  deserving  of  notice,  as  it  is  characteristic  of  catholicity  at  home,  and  in 
Euro])e ;  it  is  this.  The  priesthood  is  a  spiritual  nobility,  and  exclusive  aristocracy,  of 
an  awful  order.  They  are  in  fact,  every  thing  ;  and  tJie  poor  laity  art  7iothing,  utterly 
nothing!  Hence  the  terms  in  our  priests'  letter,  "The  poor  ignorant  people,"  of 
"  scanty  intellects,"  and  "weak  capacities  ;  "  Strange,  to  think  that  the  Redeemer 
should  require  such  to  jncJc  out  their  religion  from  the  scriptures  !"  And  this  system 
deems  it  not  enough  to  brutalize  the  laity ;  it  also  insults  them-.  And  hence  the  corir 
clusion  which  the  piiests  draw  from  the  fact  of  their  degradation,  is  as  curious  in  point 
of  logic,  as  it  is  destitute  of  all  benevolent  feeling ; — namely,  because  they  are  ignorant, 
therefore,  we  will  not  allow  them  the  great  means  appointed  by  God  to  instruct  them  ; 
the  laity  shall  not  have  the  right  to  hear  what  God  says  to  them,  without  a  priest's 
v/ritten  license  ! 

*'  But  God  has  given  his  word  as  a  light  to  our  feet,  and  a  lamp  to  our  path."  "  The 
man  of  God  is  made  perfect  b}'-  the  scriptures,  and  is  thoroughly  furnished  by  them 
unto  all  good  works."  "  No,  my  child,"  says  Holy  3Iother  by  her  priests,  "  that  light 
does  not  njean  light ;  that  lamp  is  not  the  lamp  ;  God's  law,  though  perfect,  is  "  a  falla- 
cious," and  mischievous  rule  ;  "  perfect"  does  not  mean  "  sufficient  I"  '•  And  mark  me, 
my  son,"  says  she, — "  we  are  very  watchful,  and  very  benevolent ;  though  men  may 
have  thinking  powers,  they  hare  no  right  before  me,  to  think !  Though  God  may  have 
given  to  each  private  man,  a  judgment,  yet  none  have  the  rights  of  private  judgmenii 
with  me  !  Though  there  are  souie  things  hard  to  be  understood,  and  only  some,  it  is 
true, — yet  it  is  far  the  safest  way  to  keep  out  of  the  laity's  hands  all  the  plain  and  easy 
parts  too.  Though  some  men,  namely,  the  "  milearned  and  unstable  do  wrest  the 
scriptures,"  yet  it  will  be  an  act  of  pure  benevolence  to  keep  away  the  temptation,  and 
abstract  the  whole  Bible  from  the  hands  of  all ! 

But  the  apostle  does  not  say  that  any  of  the  scriptures  are  bc^'ond  the  possibility  of 
being  understood.  They  are  69(Tvor}ra  hard,  that  is,  not  impossible  to  be  understood. 
Would  it  not  be  a  little  more  benevolent,  stiU,  to  make  the  people  "  learned,"  and 
and  thence  "  stable,"  by  a  solid  education  ?  That  is  what  you  heretics  say ;  but 
says  Holy  Mother, — "There  is  nothing  equal  to  a  cloud  of  darkness  brooding  over  the 
mind  of  our  '  low,  vulgar,  and  poor  ignorant  laity  ;'  it  is  highly  salutary  ;  our  priestly 
influence  would  vanish  in  six  weeks,  if  this  cloud  were  unhappily  dispersed.  For 
we  know  this  by  our  bitter  experience,  ever  since  the  squabble  between  Mr.  Martin 
Luther  and  pope  Leo  X."  As  certainly  as  the  "  poor  ignorant  people?'  begin  to  read, 
they  will  think  for  themselves:  then  they  will  reclaim  from  us  the  rights  "of  your 
accursed  private  judgmnnt ;"  and  the  right  of  going  directly  to  God  himself,  to  have 
their  sins  pardoned  for  nothing !  Then  the  asses  which  we  have  long  bridled  and  ridden, 
most  joyfully,  peacefully,  and  profitably,  will  slip  the  noose.  Then  farewell  to  the 
gains  and  sweets  of  priestcraft;  and  the  shrines  of  the  great  goddess,,  the  queen  of 
heaven  I ! 


58  lElOMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

III.  Another  prominent  feature  in  your  logic,  gentlemen,  has  been  the  vicious  dir- 
cle.  When  we  demand  of  the  Roman  Catholics, — "  How  do  you  prove  your  church 
to  be  infalhble  ?  And  whence  do  you  establish  the  marks  of  the  true  church  ?"  They 
appeal  to  Matt,  xxviii.  19.;  and  to  the  passage  relative  to  Peter,  the  rock.  In  fact 
they  seek  proofs  of  their  church  out  of  the  holy  scriptures.  This  their  fathers  have 
done;  and  even  Bellarraine,  De  Verbo  Dei,  Lib.  i.  2.  says, — '*  Sacra  Scriptura  regu- 
la  credendi  certissima  tutissimaque  sit  &c.  Sacred  Scripture  is  the  most  certain  and 
most  safe  rule  of  faith.  On  the  other  hand  in  the  whole  course  of  this  controversy, 
the  priests  have  fiercely  maintained  that  the  scriptures,  their  inspiration,  and  their 
authority  depend  on  the  church!  And  thus  "Holy  Mother,"  reasons  in  a  circle, 
after  the  following-  manner.  A  certain  estate  is  in  suit,  in  chancery ;  a  female  of 
rather  a  suspicious  character,  with  a  few  characteristic  attendants,  not  a  whit  holier 
than  they  should  be,  appears  in  court,  with  a  parchment  roll  in  her  hand ;  she  claims 
the  property  on  the  evidence  of  that  parchment  roll.  "Who  are  you?"  says  the 
court;  "Who  I  am  you  can  know  by  the  most  perfect  evidence  of  this  parchment 
writing."  They  look  into  the  roll :  there  is  nothing  there  but  what  is  unfavorable  to 
her.  "But  what,  and  whence  is  this  roll?"  says  the  court.  "What  that  deed  is, 
and  whence  its  evidence,  you  can  know,"  says  she,  "in  the  most  certain  manner 
from  my  oral  testimony.  My  lips  certify  that  will ;  and  that  will  certifies  me !"  This 
Ls  the  literal  argument  of  our  Romish  priests ! ! 

IV.  There  is  one  of  your  objections,  which  1  am  constrained  once  more  to  notice. 
It  is  your  stereotype  objection  in  all  your  oral^  and  written  discussions.  Besides  it  is 
copied  out  of  Mumford,  and  Milner,  and  put  into  every  Roman  catholic's  lips.  It  is 
this :  *'  The  Protestant  rule  is  the  Bible  as  explained  by  each,  by  private  judgment  and 
his  own  private  interpretation^  This  has  been  answered  and  exposed  ten  thousand 
times  by  our  writers:  and  yet,  it  is  deliberately  and  constantly  urged.  Now,  we 
pronounce  this  as  deliberate  a  slander,  as  it  would  be  on  my  part,  did  I  assert  that  you 
recite  the  prayers  of  Mohammed  at  Mass  !  No  Protestant  ever  said  that  the  Bible, 
as  explained  by  each  one,  by  private  interpretation,  is  the  rule.  The  reason  is  obvi- 
ous ;  it  involves  a  contradiction ;  the  Bible  manifestly  cannot  be  the  rule,  if  each 
man's  private  sentiment  be  the  rule.  The  priest,  therefore,  who  reiterates  this  charge 
contradicts  himself,  and  bears  false  witness  against  his  neighbor.  And  yet  I  assure 
my  readers,  that  they  will  find  our  priests  recklessly  renewing  this  slanderous  charge, 
to  the  end.  The  reason  is  manifestly  this :  did  they  take  our  own  doctrine,  in  our 
own  words,  and  sense,  it  were  utterly  impossible  for  them,  for  lack  of  matter,  to 
advance  one  rational  objection.  The  Protestant  church  unanimously  proclaims  that 
her  RULE  IS  the  word  of  God;  and  the  judge  and  interpreter  is  the  Al- 
mighty God,  speaking  in  it  to  us,  plainly  and  clearly;  because  God  in- 
tends THAT  we  should  CERTAINLY  UNDERSTAND  HIM. 

V.  When  we  urged  on  you,  gentlemen,  the  fact  of  your  corrupting  the  word  of 
God,  by  adding  to  it  the  apocrypha,  and  traditions,  which  the  fathers  rejected, — you 
turned  on  us,  and  replied  by  charging  on  us,  in  genuine  style  of  Jesuitism,  the  same 
sin.  "  We  cannot  refrain  from  laughter,"  as  St.  Jerome  once  said  on  a  similar  charge, 
to  hear  you  very  gravely  asserting  in  your  letter  II.  that  "the  Calvinists  add  to  the 
gospels,  and  to  the  epistles,  the  institutes  of  Calvin! — and  the  Heidleberg  catechism 
to  the  apocalypse!"  "And  they  add  their  professions  (confessions)  of  faith  to  the 
^ible." 

According  to  this  unique  and  irresistible  logic,  we  shall  presently  hear  it  asserted 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  59 

that  Dr.  Power's  last  sermon  in  St.  Peter's,  is  an  awful  and  impious  addition  to  the 
pope'3  bull,  Uuigenitiis !  And  our  priests  sacred  tonsure  is  an  addition  to  the  pope's 
tiara,  and  will  make  it  no  more  the  triple,  but  the  quadruple  crown  !  What  miracles 
will  not  the  mysterious  powers  of  Romish  logic  effect ! 

But,  after  all  can  it  be  possible  that  our  meaning  is  misunderstood,  when  we  say 
that  the  council  of  Trent  has  added  many  books  to  the  sacred  canon  ?  You  are 
aware  that  the  Tridentine  Fathers  declared  certain  books  to  be  as  much  inspired,  as 
the  holy  scriptures,  and  thence  enjoined  them  to  be  read  with  the  same  *'  holy  and 
pious  veneration,"  as  the  rest  of  the  scriptures.  Now  surely,  you  do  not  mean  gravely 
to  charge  it  on  us,  that  we  canonize  as  inspired,  the  catechisms,  or  confessions,  far 
loss  the  writings  of  private  individuals  ! 

VI.  *'  The  Hebrews"  you  say  *'  were  without  the  written  word  of  God  for  14 
generations ;  hence  the  scriptures  could  not  be  their  rule  of  faith."  Gentlemen,  yoa 
appear  very  learned  in  your  letter  II.  You  give  a  sort  of  dissertation  on  the  Hebrews' 
losing  their  native  tongue  after  the  great  captivity ;  and  the  introduction  of  the  Syriac 
among  the  Jews  for  fourteen  generations,  you  say,  the  Jews  have  not  had  the  Old 
Testament  in  their  vernacular  ;  it  was  read  in  Hebrew  to  them ;  a  tongue  not  under- 
stood. 

All  this  borrowed  plumage  is  plucked  from  your  convenient  Mumford,  the  Jesuit. 
But  I  deny  this  utterly,  and  I  call  on  you  for  his  and  your  proof,  that  the  Jews  were 
without  the  scriptures  in  their  vernacular  tongue  for  fourteen  generations.  Mumford's 
assertion  is  no  proof  to  you,  or  to  me.  I  am  prepared  to  prove  your  and  his  assertion 
utterly  false. 

I  shall  name  only  one  fact.  Ezra,  after  the  captivity,  read  the  book  of  the  law  to 
the  people ;  this  shows  beyond  contradiction  that  they  understood  the  Hebrew.  He 
read  the  law,  and,  as  a  preacher,  gave  the  sense,  and  made  the  people  understand  it. 
Ezra  was  not  initiated  into  the  edifying  practice  of  praying  and  preaching,  in  Latin  or 
Chinese,  to  his  people  !  And  it  is  interesting  to  know,  that  all  the  Jews,  except  the 
apostate  Jews,  keep  up  this  custom  of  Ezra  ;  the  apostate  Jews,  like  you,  continue  the 
truly  edifying  and  interesting  habit  of  employing  in  the  public  worship,  an  unknown 
tongue  !  This,  by  the  way,  might  do  with  the  Jews,  who  prayed  only  to  him  who 
knows  all  tongues  :  but  with  you  it  is  a  fatal  and  foolish  work  ;  and  I  beg  you  to  look 
well  to  it ;  for  you  ought  to  know  that  the  Virgin  Mary,  '*  the  glorious  Mediatrix,"  to 
whom  the  most  of  your  prayers  are  offered,  being  a  Jewess,  knew  Hebrew  and  Syriac, 
but  nothing  of  the  Latin,  never  having  been  at  Rome  !  !  Hence  all  your  prayers  are 
thrown  away  upon  her,  even  supposing  you  could  get  within  the  range  of  her  eight, 
and  hearing! 

VII.  "  If  the  scriptures  had  been  the  rule  of  faith,"  say  you,  **the  church  would 
always  have  had  them  in  writing;  but  before  Moses,  there  was  no  writing;  and  in 
Christ's  time,  they  had  not  the  New  Testament."  We  reply  tliat  in  all  periods  before 
the  written  word  was  completed,  the  church  had  the  same  rule  and  judge.  They  had 
the  word  of  God,  uttered  by  inspiration  from  the  lips  of  the  patriarchs,  and  prophets, 
and  from  Christ,  and  his  apostles.  And  the  same  judge,  namely  the  Holy  Ghost 
spoke  unto  them,  and  determined  all  controversies,  and  all  that  was  necessary  to  faith 
and  sound  morals.  This  favorite  objection  of  our  priests,  betrays  great  ignorance  of 
biblical  and  historical  knowledge. 

VIII.  In  your  industrious  zeal  against  the  holy  scriptures,  you  object  to  our  rule, 
that  if  Clirist  had  designed  them  for  the  rule,  he  would  have  commanded  the  disciple* 


60  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

to  write,  and  to  distribute  Bibles :  on  the  contrary,  he  said,  "  Go  and  teach  all  nations  :" 
and  by  "teaching,"  you  assume,  without  proof,  that  instruction  by  the  lip  is  meant. 

I  beg  again  to  reply,  that  "teaching,"  implies  as  much  the  use  of  writings,  as  of 
oral  instruction.  And  our  Lord's  command  to  teach,  included  as  much  an  injunction 
to  write,  as  to  speak.  Apostolical  facts  confirm  this  :  they  did  write,  as  well  as  preach  ; 
they  declared  that  they  were  enjoined  to  write.  See  Rev.  i.  19.  And  their  writings 
they  left  to  the  church  as  a  rule  of  faith.  John  xx.  31 ;  Luke  i.  3,  4  ;  2d  Tim.  iii.  16 ; 
Rom.  xvi.  26. 

You  object  in  words  borrowed  from  Mumford,  that,  "if  the  scriptures  were  the  rule 
of  faith,  the  apostles  would  have  procured  the  Bible  to  each  different  nation  in  its 
own  native  tongue.  But  they  did  not, — and  gave  no  orders  to  their  successors  to  do 
it." — Letter  II.  I  reply  that  you  cannot  prove  that  they  did  not  enjoin  them  to  do 
this.  One  thing  is  manifest  from  Paul's  enjoining  the  speaking  in  known  tongues : — 
that  he  and  his  associates  did  preach  to  the  nations  in  their  own  native  tongue.  See  1 
Cor.  xiv.  19.  The  apostle  would  have  made  a  glorious  figure,  if  he  had  preached  the 
gospel  to  the  plain  Greeks  in  Chinese ;  or  taught  the  Romans  in  native  Irish  !  Or 
the  Scotch  and  Irish  in  full  flowing  Latin! 

The  fact  is  this,  the  Almighty  set  the  mark  of  his  strong  reprobation  against  this 
popish  foolery,  by  his  gift  of  tongues  to  the  apostles.  Rather  than  permit  his  servants 
t©  insult  the  people,  and  offer  an  outrage  to  common  sense,  by  talking  to  them,  in  an 
unknown  tongue,  God  wrought  a  splendid  miracle,  and  gave  his  preachers  the  gift  o^ 
tongues.  And  finally,  they  used  the  Greek  of  the  Hebraic  idiom.  And  Greek,  says 
Cicero,  was  spoken  over  all  the  east  and  the  west.  It  is  true,  you  object,  again,  with 
Mumford,  "that  it  was  only  the  well  educated  in  these  countries,  who  understood  the 
Greek  !"  That  is  exactly  what  we  mean.  And  hence,  in  all  nations  there  were 
multitudes  of  learned  men  who  could  render  the  Greek  Septuagint,  and  the  Greek  New 
Testament  into  all  the  different  languages,  as  Christianity  spread  among  the  -nations. 
And  these  men  needed  no  command, — but  that  of  reason  and  common  sense,  to  move 
them  to  this  duty.  They  were  enjoined  to  teach  all  men.  But  without  books,  teaching 
could  not  be  carried  on,  when  the  holy  spirit  of  inspiration  departed.  While  he  was  in 
the  church,  as  before  Moses  ;  and  before  the  New  Testament  was  ^vritten,  the  church 
having  the  law  spoken  by  immediate  revelations,  could  do  without  inspired  writings  ; 
but  just  as  he  was  retiring,  were  the  inspired  writings  filled  up.  And,  in  fine,  it  is  a 
matter  of  historical  fact,  that  the  sacred  writings  were  translated  into  various  languages, 
even  before  the  last  of  the  apostles,  and  apostolical  fathers  died.  Witness  the  ancient 
Syriac ;  and  soon  after,  the  ancient  Italick,  or  Latin  version,  before  the  Vulgate ;  the 
Egyptian ;  the  Persian,  the  Ethiopian,  the  Sclavonic.  See  Home's  Introd.  vol.  i.  p.  96, 
and  vol.  ii.  chap.  v.  where  a  minute  account  of  them  is  given. 

IX.  In  every  attempt  at  argument,  gentlemen,  I  discover  one  of  your  besetting 
errors:  it  is  this:  you  claim  infallibility  for  the  rule  of  your  faith.  But  you  have 
never  preserved,  nor  even  made,  the  distinction  between  ohjective  and  subjective  infal- 
libihty.  In  the  Protestant  rule  of  faith,  there  is  an  objective  infallibility.  It  cannot 
be  otherwise;  because  Almighty  God  speaks  to  us  in  his  holy  scriptures.  But  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  subjective  infallibility.  The  subject  on  whom  it  operates  is  not 
infallible ;  it  does  not  make  all  men  infallible  in  their  views.  By  an  .accurate  square 
rule  of  two  feet,  a  carpenter  is  guided  infallibly,  in  his  accuracy,  in  building  a  house. 
But  that  same  rule  in  the  hands  of  a  child,  or  a  blind  man,  will  not  regulate  the 
building ;  nor  make  the  child,   and  the  blind  man  infallibly  accurate :  and  yet  it  is 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  61 

the  same  perfect  rule  in  the  hands  of  all  three.  The  fault  lies  in  the  subject :  not  in 
the  rule  objectively.  The  royal  psalmist  David,  distinctly  recognizes  this  by  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit: — "Open  thou  mine  eyes  that  I  may  behold  wondrous 
things  out  of  thy  law."  Ps.  cxix.  18.  Gentlemen,  you  confound  these  two  things, 
with  studious  care,  in  all  your  declamatory  opposition  to  the  holy  scriptures.  And 
the  issue  of  your  argument^ — pardon  me,  1  mean  no  insult  in  calling  it  argument, — is 
worthy  of  this  wretched  logic. 

We  have  not,  however,  observed  this  mode  of  argument  against  your  rule:  for  we 
have  shown,  it  is  believed,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  christian  public. — 1st. 
That  you  have  no  infallible  rule  whatever:  because  with  the  deistical  school,  you 
abandon  the  holy  scriptures;  and  with  characteristic  malignity,  even  taunt  the  He- 
brew and  Greek  volumes,  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  2d.  That  though  you  had 
such  a  rule,  your  church  and  priesthood  could  no  more  wield  it,  to  the  effecting  of  any 
practical  application,  than  a  man  can  do  it,  who  is  stricken  blind ;  or  a  wretched 
maniac  who  decks  himself  in  a  triple  crown,  and  dreams  that  he  is  pope  and  the  vicar 
of  heaven !  and  3d.  That  did  even  such  a  rule  exist,  your  succession  is  utterly  cut 
off' and  annihilated  ;  and  that  you  have  neither  church,  nor  pope,  nor  priest,  nor  sacra- 
ment ! 

X.  I  come  now  to  your  often  repeated  assertion,  that  "many, — nay,  twenty  books 
of  the  Old  Testament  are  lost."  And  among  these  you  reckon,  "The  book  of  the 
wars  of  God:"  "  Jasher,"  "Nathan,"  "Iddo,"  "Solomon's  sayings,"  "  the  epistle 
from  the  Corinthians  to  Paul :  the  epistle  from  Laodicea."  In  reply — 1st.  I  shall  for 
a  moment  suppose  what  you  affirm  to  be  correct.  And  as  you  make  the  church  to  be  th& 
infallible  guardian  and  keeper  of  the  holy  scriptures,  and  also  the  very  fountain  of  their 
purity  and  authority,  it  is  evident  on  your  own  principles,  that  she  has  been  guilty  of 
a  most  scandalous  and  mortal  sin,  in  permitting  twtiity  books  to  be  lost  ?  But  you 
make  the  church  the  infallible  rule.  Here,  then,  your  infallible  rule  has  committed  a 
mortal  sin;  inasmuch  as  she  has  betrayed  God's  cause,  and  wantonly  lost  20  books! 
Either  she  is  not  the  infallible  rule,  and  keeper  of  God's  word ;  or  no  books  are  lost ! 

2d.  The  allusion  to  these  books,  as  "Jasher,"  &c.,  by  the  inspired  writer  i3  no 
evidence  of  their  inspiration,  or  their  ever  being  a  part  of  the  holy  canon.  None  of 
the  inspired  writers  call  them  "  scripture  ;"  none  of  them  (juote  them  as  "scripture." 
They  simply  allude  to  them  as  St<  Paul  does,  in  some  of  his  sayings  and  epistles  to 
certain  heathen  poets.  Thus,  in  the  Acts,  in  his  discourse  to  the  Athenians, — Paul 
quotes  a  sentence  found  in  Homer,  and  Hesiod :  also  in  Plato,  and  in  Virgil,  ^En.  vi. 
724  ;  and  the  poet  Aratus.  And  moreover,  in  Titus  i.  12,  Paul  quotes  the  heathea 
poet  Epimenides,  and  pronounces  his  testimony  a  moral  truth.  Here  St.  Paul  does 
exactly  no  more  than  what  the  Old  Testament  writers  do  in  referring  to  "Nathan," 
"  Iddo,"  or  "  Gad."  Do  you  pronounce  Homer,  Ilesiod,  and  Epimenides,  gravely, 
to  be  inspired  writers?  Are  these  men's  writings,  then,  holy  scriptures  because  St, 
Paul  (pioted  them  I  We  all  know  that  the  Rev.  father  Levins,  indeed,  quotes  hiJi 
•Shakespeare  ten  times  more  fre(iuently  than  his  Bible  :  and  far  more  accurate  is  he 
and  more  at  home  with  Shakespeare  than  with  the  holy  Bible.  But  we  are  not  pre- 
pared to  hear  Homer,  and  Epimenides,  and  Shakespeare  canonized  ! 

Your  appeal,  gentlemen,  to  Chrysostom  does  not  help  your  sinking  cause.  I  deny, 
and  you  must  deny  as  well  as  I  do,  that  he  calls  these  books  "  scripture,"  or  a  portion 
of  the  canon.  You  here  attempt  to  palm  an  imposition  on  the  ignorant.  And  verily 
you  shall  have  your  reward.     That  eminent  Father  calls  them  "prophetical  mom^- 

7 


g2  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

ments  *"  or  remnants  of  prophetical  times  ;  or  Jewish  national  monuments.  They  were 
not  inspired  works ;  no  honest  man  dare  assert  that  tliey  were  ;  he  cannot  prove  it,  if  he 
is  so  fool-hardy  as  to  assert  it.  They  w^ere  the  national  legends,  traditions,  or  rab- 
binical books,  containing  historical  sketches  or  expositions  :  but  they  were  by  no  means 
inspired. 

In  the  London  republication  of  Leslie's  "  Short  way  with  the  Jews,"  designed  as  a 
tract  for  the  Jews,  you  will  see  a  clear  evidence  and  illustration  of  the  idea  I  now 
advance.  Many  ancient  rabbinical  books  were  found  to  contain  expositions  of  pas- 
sages relative  to  Messiah,  in  all  respects  favoring  the  view^s  of  christians  ;  and  by  an 
edict  of  the  rabbins,  a  command  was  given  to  the  synagogues  to  destroy  them. 
These  "prophetical  monuments"  have  been  wantonly  destroyed.  You  can  see  a 
copy  of  this  Hebrew  injunction,  in  the  London  edition  of  Leslie's  "  Short  Way." 

I  have  only  to  add,  that  if  you  renew  this  charge  "  of  twenty  books  being  lost," 
without  giving  the  public  the  fall  evidence  of  their  divine  inspiration,  and  of  their 
having  once  formed  a  part  of  the  sacred  canon,  then  you,  and  Contzen,  and  Serrarius, 
and  Mumford,  do  post  yourselves  as  deliberate  slanderers  of  God's  holy  word  I 

XI.  "The  epistle  of  Barnabas  is  authentic,  but  not  inspired."     "Now,"  say  you, 

"if  the  certainty  of  receiving  the  epistles  of  Paul,  pure  and  entire  from  his  hands, 

as  an  apostle,  be  your  reason  for  admitting  then-  inspiration,  tell  us  why  you  reject  the 
epistle  of  Barnabas,  the  apostle  ?"     Lett.  2. 

Even  admitting  your  absurd  position  that  there  is  no  other  evidence  of  inspiration, 
than  that  of  tradition,  there  is  no  difficulty  here  in  answering  your  question.  Barna- 
bas never  laid  claims  to  inspiration ;  he  did  not  lay  his  ep:stle  before  the  churches  as 
inspired  :  hence  the  church  never  declared  it  inspired  :  nor  received  as  such.  Hence 
it  wants  the  internal  evidence. 

I  cannot  omit  here  an  amusing  circumstance,  relative  to  an  extraordinary  discovery 
which  my  profoundly  learned  opponents  have  made  in  their  last  letter.  Though  I 
have  formally  included  tradition,  and  the  church's  testimony,  in  the  list,  as  one  of  the 
evidences  of  the  truth  of  divine  inspiration,  they  have  just  discovered,  for  the  first 
time,  that  we  really  do  hold  that ;  and  they  exult  with  triumph  that  we  have  made 
the  concession ! !  But  then,  gentlemen,  you  take  care  not  to  tell  your  intelligent  de- 
votees, that  we  hold  to  the  tradition  of  historical  testimony  of  all  the  churches,  in  Asia, 
Greece,  Africa,  aud  Europe ; — and  not  in  your  ridiculous,  and  exclusive  manner,  to 
the  sect  of  the  Roman  church  only  ! 

XII.  In  vour  letters  you  have  more  than  once  made  emphatic  allusions  to  the 
"  Arian  Cobbler,"  and  to  "old  women,"  and  "  virtuous  females."  I  must,  for  want 
of  room  postpone  the  objection  of  the  "Cobbler"  which  you  and  Mr.  Hughes,  copy 
out  of  old  Mumford;  and  which  you  improve,  actually  out  of  Volney:  of  this  in  my 
next.  I  was  at  a  loss  for  some  time,  to  penetrate  the  reason  why  you  speak  so 
solemnly,  so  often,  and  so  affectionately  about  "old  women,"  and  "virtuous  old 
ladies."  After  some  pains  I  have  discovered  the  reason.  A  pious  man,  especially  a 
Roman  priest,  is  always  very  grateful.  And  I  have  no  doubt  that  yon  make  these 
frequent  allusions  with  a  pious  view  of  cherishmg  the  memory  of  good  old  Pope  Joan ; 
that  pious  and  sly  "  old  woman"  and  "  virtuous  female,"  who  contrived  to  obtain  a 
cardinal's  hat ;  and  finally,  to  climb  up  into  St.  Peter's  chair !  You  have  proud 
reasons  to  cherish  her  memory ,~good  old  soul !  And  as  pious  and  chaste  sons,  to 
speak  fondly  aud  gratefully  of  such  "old  women;"  and  " such  virtuous  females." 
You  can  never  forget  "  the  chair  Stercorarius ;"  nor  the  street  of  Rome  immortalized 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  63 

by  her  labors.  We  cannot  blame  you  for  being  grateful.  It  was  not  every  pope 
that  made  such  a  present  to  "Holy  Mother,"  and  to  "St.  Peter's  chair," — as  Pope 
Joan  did ;  as  the  old  Roman  distich,  composed  by  an  orthodox  monk,  has  fully  shown : 

viz. — 

"  Papa  pater  patrurn  peperit  papissa  papilum  ! ! 

Will  our  learned  priests  oblige  the  reading  public  with  a  literal  version  of  this  curi- 
ous monkish  verse ;  and  accompany  it  with  historical  notes,  and  a  commentary  ? 

You  have  felt  the  force  of  our  remark  on  the  unfair  writer  Milner.  Hence  you  pee- 
vishly remark, — "  Your  attack  on  the  great  Milner  reminds  us  of  the  jack-ass  kicking 
the  dead  lion."  There  is  a  slight  error  here ;  but  such  things  will  occur  with  even 
accurate  printers.  It  should  have  been, — "  it  reminds  us  of  the  lion  kicking  the  dead 
jack-ass!"  But  it  is  of  no  consequence.  Even  admitting  him  to  be  ''  the  dead  liun,''^ 
— I  beg  you  to  know  that  no  Protestant  ever  strikes  a  fallen, — far  less  a  dead  foe ! 
McGavin  in  The  Glasgow  Protestant,  and  another  writer  in  The  London  Protestant 
Journal,  vol.  i.  683,  have  actually  left  nothing  to  be  done,  in  despatching  and  skinning 
"the  dead  lion."  They  have  annihilated  every  one  of  his  objections :  and  exposed 
the  infamy  of  that  unfair  writer,  who  never  could  quote  an  opponent  without  mis- 
statement :  nor  shape  an  argument  without  sophistry ;  nor  detail  a  simple  narrative, 
without  falsehood  and  fraud ! 

I  am,  gentlemen,  your  most  ob't  and  humble  serv-ant, 

W.  C.  B, 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PRIESTS'  LETTER  VI. 

"The  letter  opens  with  a  long  discussion  about  'the  stamp  which  nature  impresses  on  dif- 
ferent animals.'  'So  it  is  with  fools  and  dunces.'  Then  follows  a  lamentation  over  Dr. 
B.  s  'utter  failure  to  prove  his  rule.'  'Who,  not  gifted  with  prophetic  vision,  could  have 
supposed  a  teacher  in  Israel,  a  preacher  in  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  a  familiar  with  the 
interior  spirit,  an  erudite  able  to  interpret  every  crabbed  idiom  in  the  'Hebrew  and  Greek 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  a  'gentleman,^  who  arrogates  to  himself  the  sole  right  to  be  the  '  writer, 
to  his  flock,  and  the  director  of  ^  virtuous  \a.dies,^  who  could  have  supposed  he  would  have 
shrunk  from  the  logical  probation  and  defence  of  a  cause  to  which  he  had  invited  discus- 


sion 


[" 


"  Had  we  foreseen  your  unenviable  qualities  of  mind,  you  should  not  have  numbered  us 
among  your  controvesial  antagonists  ;  you  might  still,  for  aught  it  would  affect  us,  have  been 
the  Grand  Lama  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  and  the  interpreter  of  the  'Hebrew  and  Greek 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  for  your  challenge  would  not  have  been  honored  by  our  acceptance." 

"Your  assertions  were  returned  to  you  in  the  order  of  sixteen  propositions.  Why  was  your 
answer  given  under  this  form  ?  Did  you  suppose  it  would  have  been  admitted  by  us  as  es- 
tablishing the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God?  If  you  did,  the  sixteen  propositions  have  fur- 
nished another  form  of  testimony." 

The  priests,  then,  proceed  to  go  over  Dr.  B.'s  proofs  of  the  divine  inspiration  ;  and  declare 
them  "  puerile,"  and  mere  "  assertions."  "  There  is  nothing  but  assertion,  and  a  reference 
to  bishop  Newton  :  and,  on  this,  forsooth,  you  hook  your  infallible  conclusion — the  Bible  is 
the  word  of  God  !  This  is  really,  uttei-ly,  and  disgracefully  puerile,  contemptible,  farcical. 
Yet,  this  is  a  preacher's  answer  in  defence  of  his  rule  of  faith  I  This  is  the  answer  of  a 
Judge  in  Israel,  who  can,  when  he  lists,  evoke  the  interior  spirit,  and  interpret  the  "  Hebre^Y■ 
and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost?" 

"  This  is  the  Q.  E.  D.  of  your  interior  spirit,  and  your  logical  basis  for  an  article  of  faith  ; 
How  will  John  Calvin  greet  you  on  the  river  Styx  ?  Your  proofs  now  are  typical  of  what 
your  shade  will  be  then.     Again  your  opponents  say, — prove  your  answers,  logical  doctors," 


64  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY^ 

Here  follows  a  tedious  repetition  of  the  only  idea  that  they  have  ever  yet  advanced  on  this 
point,  namely  :  that  "  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  is  proved  only  from  the  traditionary  testi- 
mony of  the  churcli :  that  '  the  church'  is  their  sect,  and  that  exclusively." 

We  have  all  along  admitted  this  branch  of  testimony  to  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  holy 
scriptures:  but  we  have  insisted  on  the  testimony  of  all  the  branches  of  the  church  of  Christ. 
The  following  exhibits  the  eternal  circle  in  which  all  Romish  priests  move.  "  But  this  evi- 
dence he  has  from  the  testimony  of  the  church;  therefore,  without  the  testimony  of  the 
church,  he  could  not  believe  the  inspiration  of  the  scriptures.  But  the  inspiration  of  the 
scriptures  is  an  article  of  christian  belief;  and  to  this  belief,  the  Doctor  could  not  be  brouglit 
by  the  scriptures  alone.  Therefore,  the  scriptures  alone  are  not  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith. — 
d.  E.  D." 

"You  reject  the  inspiration  of  the  epistle  of  St.  Barnabas  on  the  autiiority  of  the  Catholic 
church  ;  you  admit  the  inspiration  of  the  gospel  of  St.  Luke  on  the  same  authority,  and  you 
have  the  assurance  to  tell  us,  '  we  are  not  so  weak  and  bigoted  and  foolish,  as  to  believe  it, 
merely  on  the  church's  tradition !'  This  '  mere  carrier  of  the  mail  bag'  as  you  impiously  call 
the  church  of  Christ,  is  authority  with  3'Ou  for  rejecting  as  inspired  scripture,  the  writing  of 
an  apostle,  and  for  admitting  as  inspired  scripture  the  writings  of  one  who  was  not  an  apos- 
tle, St.  Luke ;  and  this  authority  which  you  pretend  to  revere  on  this  all  important  point  you 
reject  with  contempt,  when  there  is  question  of  ascertaining  its  meaning." 

"  Where  does  the  Catholic  Church  tell  you  that  the  books  refen-ed  as  lost  were  not  inspii*ed? 
Would  St.  Matthew,  think  you,  refer  the  Jews  to  uninspired  prophecies,  for  proof  that  Christ 
was  the  Messiah  foretold  by  the  prophets  T  It  was  spoken  by  the  prophets,  '  He  .shall  be 
called  a  Nazarene, — Matt.  c.  ii.  5,  23.  The  books  of  the  prophets,  wherein  Christ  was 
called  a  Nazarene,  have  perished,  for  he  is  not  called  a  Nazarene  in  all  the  prophetical 
books  which  v/e  have." 

The  following  sets  the  deism  of  our  priests  in  a  clear  light : — ■ 

"  But  what  are  we  to  think  of  the  man  who  libels  the  Almighty  by  pertinaciously  asserting 
in  the  face  of  the  public  that  the  Almighty  established  as  the  only  rule  of  faith,  that  which 
common  sense  alone  tells  us  could  not  be  the  only  rule  of  faith.  The  inspiration  and  cano- 
nicity  of  the  scriptures  are  articles  of  faith.  These  articles  cannot  be  proved  by  the  scrip- 
tures alone  ;  therefore,  the  scriptures  are  not  the  only  rule  of  faith." 

Note. — The  priests,  in  their  zeal  to  show^  that  the  Jews  had,  in  their  captivity  in  Babylon, 
utterly  lost  the  Hebrew  language,  ludicrously  contradict  their  own  leading  tenet,  by  assert- 
ino-  that  Ezra  translated  the  Bible  into  their  vernacular  tongue.     Here  are  their  words  : — 

"  Hence  we  conclude,  that,  when  Ezra,  '  after  the  captivity,  read  the  book  of  the  law  to  the 
people,'  he  acted  both  the  part  of  a  preacher  and  interpreter.  To  have  the  people  under- 
stand the  law  w-hich  he  read,  he  must  have  translated  it  for  them." 

Romish  priests  always  stoutly  maintain  that  an  infallible  rule  makes  all  those  who  use  it, 
infallible  also.  Hence  the  follov/ing  extravagance  :  "Your  distinction  between  subjective 
and  objective  infallibility,  is  worthy  of  the  logician,  and  great  magician  of  tlie  Middle  Dutch 
Church.  The  holy  scriptures  are  infallible,  because  they  are  the  word  of  God.  '  But  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  subjective  infallibility.'  So  then  the  Almighty  God,  who  is  your  inter- 
preter of  the  holy  scriptures  and  not  your  own  private  spirit,  does  not  infallibly  teach  you 

the  truth !  " 

It  is  curious  to  see  the  priests  deprecating  and  denying  the  vicious  circle,  and  at  the  same 
moment  employing  it  in  defence  of  Holy  Mother !  "  Our  church,"  say  they,  "  established  by 
miracles,  comes  into  court,  witliout  spot  or  wrinkle!''  Yes  !  the  polluted  lady  of  Babylon^ 
"  the  mother  of  harlots,"  as  John  said,  "  comes  into  court  unspotted,  with  the  testament  of 
her  divine  spouse.  It  is  readily  admitted  to  be  genuine."— that  is,  exclusively,  say  the  priests , 
by  the  church's  oicn  testimony.  "  Its  contents  are  duly  examined  ;  and  behold  this  document, 
already  proved  and  admitted  to  be  genuine,— that  is  by  her  own  word— says :  '  That  Christ 
promised  to  be  with  his  church  to  the  end  of  the  world.'  '  That  he  would  send  her  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  teach  her  all  truth ;'  she  is  called  '  the  pillar  and  the  ground  of  truth  ;'  and  this 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  65 

Dr.  Brownlee  calls  a  vicious  circle,  which  in  logic  is  called  a  sophism,  proving  the  same  by  the 
same,  in  every  respect.  Here  you  see,  the  document  is  proved  to  be  a  genuine  record,  on  the 
respectable  testimony  of  the  Catholic  church,  before  the  ittfallihility  of  the  church  is  proved  from  the 
document. ^^ 

Finally,  in  their  Letter  III.,  the  priests  thus  express  the  Roman  catholic  sentiments,  rela- 
tive to  their  vulgate : — 

"  It  is  painful  to  be  obliged  to  expose  your  ignorance  where  you  ought  to  be  better  informed. 
Are  you  not  aware,  Sir,  that  the  Vulgate,  which  you  call  the  worst  of  all  translations,  and 
which  you  say  is  considered  as  such  by  all  enlightened  Protestants,  was  partly  made  and 
partly  corrected  by  the  first  biblical  scholar,  and  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  holy  men,  who 
ever  lived,  St.  Jerome.  You  ought  to  know  that  this  version  was  made  when  the  best  and 
purest  copies  of  the  Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  Greek  and  Latin,  together  with  the  polyglots  of 
Origen,  were  to  be  had.  That  this  version  has  been  constantly  in  the  hands  of  the  Western 
church,  in  all  its  extent,  during  fifteen  centuries.  You  ought  to  know,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  originals  have  been,  during  many  ages,  in  the  hands  of  wander- 
ing Jews,  and  divided  oppressed  Asiatics,  and  that,  therefore,  you  cannot  possibly  answer  for 
the  changes  they  may  have  undergone.  This  eircumstance  ought  to  cause  you  to  observe  deep 
silence  on  this  point.  Are  you  ignorant  that  the  most  learned  Protestants  in  biblical  criti- 
cism such  as  Mill,  Walton,  Polyg.  have  professed  the  greatest  esteem  for  the  Latin  Vulgate, 
The  learned  Grotius  writes  of  the  Vulgate,  thus  :  "  Vulgatum  interpretem  semper  plurimi 
feci,  non  modo  quod  nulla  dogmata  insalubria  continet,  sed  etiam  quod  multum  habet  in  se 
eruditionis."  Grot,  in  annot.  in  Vet.  Test.  And,  notwithstanding  this  mass  of  respectable 
testimony,  the  preacher  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church  tells  us  that  the  Vulgate  is  the  worst  of 
all  possible  translations" — Q,uid  domini  facient,  audent  cum  talia  fures  ? 


LETTER  VII. 

"  Strike,  but  hear  me  !" — Saying  of  a  Greek  General. 

Rev.  Gentlemen  : — I  have  gone  over  your  last  letter  carefully.  You  have  not 
adduced  one  solitary  new  idea.  There  is  no  novelty,  even  in  the  style  ;  it  is  the  old 
and  deep  stained  ribaldry,  dyed  in  the  wool ;  and  setting  at  defiance,  every  process  to 
wash  or  bleach  it ! — The  intelligent  christian  will  do  me  the  justice  to  admit  that  the 
Protestant  rule  has  been  fuUi/  established  :  and  that  the  Roman  rule  has  been  Uke  wise 
demolished  by  our  ten  arguments,  ivhich  have  not  even  been  noticed,  far  less  answered, 
hy  the  reverend  priests. 

I  shall  therefore  close  my  reply  to  the  remaining  infidel  objections,  urged  with  such 
appalling  intemperance  against  the  only  rule  of  faith, — the  word  of  god,  and  the 

ONLY  judge  of  CONTROVERSY,  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  SPEAKING  TO  US  IN  IT. 

I.  I  shall  review  your  infidel  insinuations,  drawn  from  textual  dijicidties.  The 
christian  and  ingenious  scholar,  when  he  meets  with  difficulties  in  the  holy  Bible, 
would  seek  the  solution  of  them  on  the  pages  of  those  judicious  biblical  writers,  who 
have  devoted  their  time  and  talents  to  the  illustration  of  biblical  literature.  He  would 
examine  tlie  original;  and  study  Boehart,  Whitby,  Lightfoot,  "Lux  in  Tenebris;"  or 
your  own  modern  writers,  Jahn,  and  Bug,and  he  would  discover  that  there  is  not  one 
textual  difficulty,  which  has  not  been  satisfactorily  solved. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  unnatural  infidel's  criticism,  and  opposition  to  truth,  to 
sport  apparent  contradictions,  and  magnified  difficulties,  triumphantly  detected  in  his 
father's  wll  and  testa3ient!  This  you  have  done,  gentlemen,  with  the  malig- 
nity of  unnatural  sons  I  And  what  gains  the  infidel  by  this?  Just  as  much  as  you  do 


G6  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

in  your  infidel  crusade  !  Unholy  and  unchristian  is  that  cause,  beyond  all  gainsaying, 
which  requires  for  its  defence,  a  traitorous  and  parricidal  thrust, — powerless  though  it 
be, — at  the  holy  scriptures  of  our  God  and  Saviour  ! 

I  would  here  observe  that  the  authority  and  genuineness  of  our  common  law,  or  Decla- 
ration of  independence,  would  not  be  affected  by  some  slight  mistakes  of  the  transcriber 
or  printer.  We  maintain  the  same  in  regard  to  the  Bible.  While  not  one  sentence  is 
marred  ;  not  one  item  lost :  not  one  doctrine  altered,  we  may  admit  that  a  transcriber, 
not  being  inspired,  may  have  mis-spelled  words,  or  even  substituted  one  proper  name 
for  another.  AVould  the  omission  of  a  name,  or  the  alteration  of  a  name,  in  some 
copies  of  the  signers  of  ssventy-six,  render  null  and  void  the  whole  instrument 
signed?   Surely  not.     Apply  this  principle  to  the  point  before  us. 

In  2  Kings  viii.  26.  Ahaziah  is  said  to  have  been  22  years  old  when  he  began  to 
reign  :  in  2  Chron.  xxii.  2.  he  is  said  to  have  been  42.  The  Hebrews  had  no  arithme- 
tical figures  :  they  used  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  And  in  this  case  a  transcriber  had 
the  letter  mem,  whose  power  is  40,  instead  of  the  letter  caph,  whose  power  is  20.  And 
the  Hebrew  scholar  knows  that  these  two  letters,  with  the  diiference  of  a  slight  perpen- 
dicular dash,  are  much  alike.     Does  this  change  of  a  letter  aifect  any  article  of  faith  ? 

Matt.  i.  17.  There  are  said  to  be  fourteen  generations  between  Salathiel  and  Christ ; 
yet  thirteen  only  are  recorded.  Whitby  lias  solved  it,  by  showing  that  by  Jeconias, 
named  in  verse  11,  is  meant  Jehoiachim,  the  eldest  son  of  Josias:  and  that  Jeconias 
named  in  the  12th  verse  was  Jehoiakim's  son,  who  was  the  father  of  Salathiel.  This 
completes  the  fourteenth  generation.  Dr.  Lightfoot  advocates  the  following  solution. 
It  was  a  custom,  nay,  even  an  axiom  in  the  Jewish  schools,  to  reduce  things  and  num- 
bers, to  the  very  same  name  when  they  were  nearly  alike.  This  was  avowedly  to  aid 
the  memory.  I  beg  leave  to  refer  to  his  book  Hora  Htbraica.  Now,  Matthew  has 
observed  the  three  fold  division  of  Jewish  chronology  ;  namely,  the  era  before  the 
kin<^s»;  the  era  under  the  kings ;  and  the  era  of  their  national  declension  down  to  the 
lime  of  Messiah.  And  to  help  the  memory,  after  the  manner  of  the  Hebrew  school, 
he  has  divided  each  of  the  three  eras  into  fourteen  generations.  Now,  no  scholar  can 
suppose  this  to  be  taken  in  its  strict  and  literal  sense,  says  the  Doctor.  For  it  is  just 
as  true  that  Matthew  has  designedly  left  out  three  kings  in  the  8th  verse,  in  order  to 
make  14  generations  in  the  first  era,  as  that  he  has  reckoned  the  third  era  14  genera- 
tions, while  it  contains  13  only.  AH  this  was  strictly  in  keeping  with  the  national 
custom  or  rule  of  the  Jews,  which  Matthew-  did  not  invent,  but  follow  :  for  it  was  to 
the  Hebrews  that  he  was  writing.     See  Poli  Synop.  in  loco. 

Luke  iii.  35,  36.  "  Salah  was  the  son  of  Cainan,  who  was  the  son  of  Arphaxad.'' 
Genesis  records  it  thus :— "  Arphaxad  begat  Salah."  One  solution  is  this  :— Salah 
and  Cainan  were  the  names  of  one  person :  the  latter  being  the  cognomen  :  and 
hence  they  read  it  thus,— Salah  the  Cainan,  who  was  the  son  of  Arphaxad.  Others 
are  of  opinion  that  as  Cainan  is  found  only  in  the  Septuagint  Greek  translation, 
and  not  in  the  Hebrew  text  of  Moses,  it  was  inserted  into  some  copies  of  the  Greek 
Testament,  out  of  those  copies  of  the  Septuagint,  which  had  this  word.  Beza  states 
that  in  his  copy  the  word  Cainan  was  not  found ;  and  lately  Dr.  Hales  has  shoAvn 
that  this  extra  name  is  an  interpolation  in  the  Greek  Septuagint.  See  his  New  Ana- 
lysis, vol.  1.  p.  90—94.  And  from  this  it  had  been  transfered  into  some  copies  of 
Luke  by  a  transcriber.  It  has  been  obseived  by  an  eminent  Biblical  scholar,  that 
all  the  variations,  and  all  the  various  readings  which  friend  or  foe  can  discover,  do 
not  alter  the  aspect  of  one  doctrine,  or  a  single  ariicle  of  our  creed.      Home  ia 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSf.  ^ 

vol.  i.  appendix,  iii.  has  devoted  64  pages  to  a  minute  examination  of  these  textual 
difficulties.     To  these,  for  want  of  room,  I  beg  to  refer  my  reader. 

You  have  presented  an  objection  from  two  other  texts.  The  first  is  Matt,  xxvii. 
9.  "  Then  was  fulfilled  that  which  was  spoken  by  Jeremy  the  Prophet."  And  the 
words  quoted  are  not  found  anywhere  in  Jeremiah,  but  in  Zechariah.  From  this  yon 
infer  that  a  part  of  Jeremiah  has  been  lost :  and,  therefore,  his  book  is  mutilated  and  the 
Bible  imperfect.  This  is  uttered  in  the  reckless  style  of  those  of  whose  theological 
education  an  accurate  and  enlightened  Bible  criticism  forms  no  part  whatever.  The 
scholar  knows  that  there  are  solutions  without  supposing  any  such  outrageous  conclu- 
sion. First. — These  words  may  have  been  first  spoken  by  Jeremiah,  and  then 
recorded,  afterwards,  by  Zechariah.  Or,  second  : — we  may  conclude  with  Bishop 
Hall  and  Griesbach,  that  a  transcriber  may  have,  in  certain  copies,  written  Jriou  for 
Zriou,  that  is,  the  contracted  form  of  Jeremiah,  instead  of  the  contracted  form  of 
Zechariah.  Or,  third  : — We  may  say  with  others,  that  Zechariah  was  also  called  by 
the  name  of  Jeremiah,  as  his  cognomen.  See  instances  of  this  in  Home,  vol.  1.  p. 
53S.  One  apostle  vv^as  sometimes  called  Joses  ;  at  other  times,  Barnabas.  And  he 
who  was  nominated  but  not  chosen  to  the  apostleship,  is  called  Joseph,  and  Barsabas, 
and  Justus. 

The  second  text  from  which  you  raise  an  objection  against  "  the  perfect  law"  of 
God,  is  Matthew  ii.  23.  "  That  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spokien  by  the 
prophets,  he  shall  be  called  a  NAZARENE."  Now  this  is  no  where  found  in  the 
prophets'  writings  :  and  your  conclusion  is, — that  some  portion  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures is  lost.  Here  it  might  be  quite  enough  to  demand, — what  is  lost  ?  "  Why," 
say  you, — "this  phrase  or  sentence  is  lost, — He  shall  be  called  a  Nazarene." 
Then  I  deny  the  position  :  for  it  stands  here  in  the  Bible  before  your  eyes ;  and  if  it 
ever  had  been  omitted,  then  here  it  is  restored  by  the  inspired  penman.  And,  there- 
fore, you  the  objectors  being  judges,  it  is  not  lost! 

I  shall  give  another  solution.  Matthew  refers  to  no  one  prophet:  "it  was  spoken 
by  the  prophets."  He  refers  to  no  one  sentiment,  or  sentence ;  he  alludes  to  some 
marked  characteristic  of  Christ,  noticed  by  the  holy  prophets  generally.  And  accord- 
ing to  the  four  rules  laid  down  by  Wolfius  and  Rosenmuller  in  reference  to  the  mode 
pursued  by  the  New  Testament  writers,  in  their  quotations  out  of  the  Old  Testament, 
we  perceive  that  they  often  quoted  the  meaning,  instead  of  the  passage  literally  :  that 
is,  they  give  us  the  sense,  instead  of  the  formal  and  literal  quotation  :  and  especially 
so,  when  they  were  quoting,  not  out  of  one  prophet,  but  from  "  the  prophets,"  in 
order  to  give  a  condensed  view  of  the  passage.  Surenhusius  the  learned  Hebrew 
})rofessor  in  Amsterdam,  has  observed  in  his  Biblos  Katallages,  p.  2.  that  this  phrase 
'•  to  fulfil  what  was  said,"  was  a  familiar  phrase  of  the  Talmudist^;  and  used  by  the 
learned  Jews,  when  they  alledged  not  the  very  words  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  but 
their  sense,  which  was  deduced  as  a  certain  anxiom  from  them. 

Now  apply  this  rule  of  legitimate  criticism  to  the  words  of  Matthew  under  discus- 
sion. A  Nazarene  was  the  epithet  used  among  the  Hebrews  and  Jews,  of  old,  to 
denote  the  meanest  and  most  despised  of  rnankind.  This  was  the  character  of  the  men 
of  Nazareth.  Now,  it  was  foretold  by  David,  Psalm  xxii,  and  Ixix.  9,  12;  and  Isaiah 
Hi.  and  liii;  and  also  by  Zcch.  xi.  12,  and  13,  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  to 
appear,  on  earth,  a  most  humble  and  despised  man  of  sorrows.  And  though  born  in 
Bethlehem,  of  David's  royal  line,  he  was  brought  up  in  Nazareth  among  the  Naza- 
renes :  and  was,  tlierefore,  by  the  malignant  Jews,  called  and  reproached  as  a  Naza- 


68  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

rene.     And  thus,  what  was  spoken  by  "the  prophets"  was  literally  fulfilled;  and 
hence,  no  part  of  their  writings  is  lost. 

II.  Another  all  prevailing  error  in  your  letters  is  this  ;  In  opposition  to  the  rule  of 
faith  ordained  by  God,  you  constantly  make  this  assumption,  that  Protestants  sepa- 
rate the  Bible  from  the  holy  ministry  and  oral  teaching.  On  this  assumption  is  based 
every  objection,  brought  forward  in  your  questions  in  Lett.  4 :  on  this  are  based  all 
your  objections  relative  to  the  supposed  obscurity  of  the  Bible :  and  all  that  steady  and 
unflinching  opposition  of  the  Pope  and  his  priests  to  Bible  societies ;  and  the  catholic 
distribution  of  the  scriptures  among  the  laity.  Yet  no  assurance  to  the  contrary,  and 
no  exposure  of  the  unmanly  misrepresentation,  will  induce  the  priests  to  do  justice  to 
truth  and  themselves,  as  well  as  to  us.  We  never  separate  oral  instruction  from  the 
reading  of  the  scriptures.  And  we  know  from  experience  that,  in  proportion  as  the 
Bible  is  gratuitously  distributed,  is  the  call  for  the  ministry  urgent  from  the  people  where 
the  scriptures  are  read.  The  appointed  ministry  of  Christ,  acting  in  his  name,  read 
and  expound  the  scriptures.  And  as  the  Bible  is  read,  pastor  and  people  hear  God 
speaking  unto  them;  and  learn  the  law  from  the  Most  High. 

III.  You  object  out  of  the  Jesuits  Mumford,  and  Milner,  that  there  are  certain 
things,  such  as  infant  baptism,  and  the  change  of  the  Sabbath,  which  scripture  does 
not  settle;  and  which  tradition  of  the  Church  alone  can. 

There  is  a  twofold  error  in  my  opponent's  argument  here  : — 

1st.  Even  admitting  that  these  are  to  be  established  by  tradition,  it  i*  the  consum- 
mation of  sacerdotal  arrogance  in  the  Roman  catholic  priests  to  despise  the  Syriac,  and 
the  Greek,  and  the  African,  and  the  ancient  Italick  churches,  and  to  claim  the  absolute 
and  exclusive  right  of  handing  down  that  which  all  the  other  churches  did  hand  down 
by  tradition. 

2d.  These  ordinances  were  established  by  scripture  as  well  as  the  faithful  testimony 
of  all  the  churches.  See  1  Cor.  xvi.  1,  2.  Here  St.  Paul  gives  a  divine  injunction  as 
much  to  observe  the  Sabbath  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  as  to  make  a  collection  for 
the  poor  on  that  day.  And  the  scriptures  call  the  first  day  of  the  week  the  Lord's 
day.  And  for  infant  baptism,  see  Matt,  xxviii.  19 ;  and  Acts  ii.  38,  39.  Now,  I  am 
not  going  to  dictate  to  my  honored  Baptist  brethren.  They  have  a  right  to  hear 
God's  word  and  to  interpret  that  word  spoken  to  them  and  to  me  ;  just  as  you  claim 
the  right  to  interpret  what  "  Holy  Mother"  says  to  you,  gentlemen.  And  avaihng 
ourselves  of  the  right  of  hearing  for  ourselves,  we  say  God  commands  us  to  teach,  or 
disciple,  and  baptize  "  all  nations."  And  as  infants  constitute  the  third  item  of  na- 
tions, as  much  as  men  and  women  do  the  other  two,  we  fairly  infer  that  we  have  the 
command  to  baptize  our  infants.  A  christian  brother  says,  "  infants  are  not  expressly 
named."  "True,  but  neither  is  man,  or  woman  mentioned:  infants  are  as  much 
mentioned  as  adults."  And,  moreover,  in  Acts  iii.  38,  39.  we  have  another  testimony  : 
and  we  erect  our  argument  thus:  When  an  ordinance  and  a  promise  are  combined 
and  connected,  as  here,  all  those  mentioned  and  named  in  the  promise,  have  a  right 
to  the  ordinance  :  but  the  promise  here  connected  with  baptism,  includes  infants  and 
parents:  here  are  the  words  literally  rendered  "  Repent  ye,"  [in  the  plural,]  "and 
be  baptized  every  one  of  you ;  for  the  promise  is  to  you  and  your  children."  There- 
fore infants  ought  to  be  baptized.  If  Protestant  brethren  differ, — so  do  Jesuits  and 
Jansenists,  Franciscans  and  Dominicans  under  their  infaltibh  rule ! 

You  lay  much  stress  on  the  traditions,  alluded  to  by  Paul  in  2  Thess.  iii.  6.     And 


ROMA.N  CATHOLIC  CONTEOVERSY,  63 

3'ou  infer  from  this,  that  besides  the  ^^Titten  word,  Paul  delivered  unwritten  traditions, 
''Hold  the  traditions  which  ye  have  been  taught,  whether  by  word  or  our  epistle." 

Now,  gentlemen,  it  cannot  have  escaped  you,  that  the  Apostle  mentions  three  dis- 
tinct classes  of  traditions ;  namely,  the  traditions  of  men,  which  he  reprobates ;  Col. 
ii.  8.  and  which  our  Lord  also  condemned,  Mark  vii.  9.  Then  there  were  the  tradi- 
tions touching  tilings  indifferent ;  or  mere  opinions,  such  as  frequency  of  communion, 
and  so  forth  ;  and  finally,  traditions  by  inspiration  :  and  which  regard  the  same  doc- 
trines and  ordinances  exhibited  in  the  New  Testament.  Thus  Paul  first  gave  the 
Corinthians  the  Lord's  Supper  by  oral  tradition,  and  then  he  gave  it  by  writing. 
'•  For  I  have  received  of  the  Lord,  that  which  also  I  delivered,''  or  gave  you,  that  is,  by 
tradition,  from  Christ.  These  traditions  fiom  Christ  are  the  same  as  immediate  com- 
munications by  inspiration — and  were,  like  all  revelations  from  God,  established  to 
the  satisfaction  and  faith  of  the  church,  by  the  evidence  internal  and  external  so  oftea 
mentioned  already. 

Now  if  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven  bring  any  thing  b}'-  a  tradition  without  aposto- 
lical and  miraculotis  evidence,  let  that  tradition,  and  its  fanatical  votary  be  accursed^ 
If  your  traditions,  gentlemen,  are  of  men,  we  reject  them  as  "  accursed" — if  they 
came  from  God,  then  they  are  accompanied  by  the  evidence  of  miracles,  prophecy, 
and  tongues.  But  your  traditions  have  none  of  this  divine  evidence.  Therefore  they 
are  human  inventions  ;  and  are  "  accursed." 

IV.  Of  the  Latin  Vulgate. — I  had  called  this  version,  after  deliberate  examina- 
tion "the  worst  of  the  v/orst  translations."  You  usher  in  your  defence  with  these 
words, — "  It  is  painful  to  be  obhged  to  expose  your  (Dr.  B's.)  ignorance,  where  you 
ought  to  be  better  informed."  This  benevolence,  in  which  you  are  as  generously 
sincere,  I  dare  say,  as  if  you  had  been  administering  extreme  unction  to  3'our  victim, 
— is  quite  out  of  keeping,  and  in  bad  taste.  I  invoke  the  whole  body  of  tlie  learned, 
now  to  judge  between  us, — both  Roman  Catholic,  and  Protestants;  and  let  them  pro- 
nounce who  is  profoundly  ignorant  of  translations. 

In  reference  to  the  Latin  Vulgate,  I  beg  leave  to  remark,  that  Jerome  finished 
his  labors  on  his  translation  in  A.  D.  384.  There  existed,  before  him,  the  old  Italick 
version  from  the  Greek  Vulgate.  This  version  is  the  oldest  in  Latin  :  it  was  made 
in  the  close  of  the  second  century,  Jerome  endeavored  to  improve  on  this  version  ; 
but,  in  tf)0  many  instances,  it  was  corrupted.  I  refer  you,  gentlemen,  to  the  profound 
critic  Nolan,  on  the  integrity  of  the  Greek  Vulgate.  In  the  second  chapter  of  Luke, 
verse  33,  the  Greek  Vatican,  and  the  Vulgate  make  Joseph  the  father  of  our  Lord ; 
"  pater  illius,  et  mater." — And  this  eminent  critic  shows  that  these  two  versions, 
on  this  text,  are  "grossly  corrupt."  See  Nolan  p.  169,  note.  And  Lowth  has 
shown,  that  in  some  instances,  the  Latin  Vulgate  is  found  "to  be  notoriously  defi- 
cient in  expressing  the  sense."     See  his  translation  oflsaiah,  p.  Ixxviii. 

You  seem  to  think,  gentlemen,  in  your  Letter  III.  that  Jerome  possessed  a  copy  of 
Origen's  Ilexapla,  or  Polyglott,  as  you  call  it.  Jerome  had  not  so  many  facilities  as 
your  exuberant  imagination  has  conceived.  He  had  not  the  Ilexapla :  and  you 
ought  to  have  known  this.  He  was  compelled  to  perform  a  long  voyage,  from  Rome 
to  Cffisarea,  in  order  to  see  and  consult  that  book.  See  Ilorne,  vol.  ii.  p.  198.  You 
have  betrayed  an  utter  ignorance  of  the  subject:  and,  I  am  no  hy])Ocrite, — I  am  not 
sorry  in  exposing  your  ignorance,  pro  bono  publico! 

Yet  severely  as  we  may  criticise  this  old  version,  I  assure  you  gentlemen,  I  did  not 
allude  to  Jerome's  true  version,  when  I  called  it  the  worst  of  translations.     I  alluded 


70  Roman  catholic  controversy. 

to  your  Vulgate,  as  it  now  exists  ;  and  as  it  is  spread  out  before  the  English  reader 
in  the  Douay  Bible.  The  Roman  catholics  seek  to  palm  this  on  the  public,  as  the 
genuine  version  of  Jerome.  But,  this  pretension  ;  and  all  your  quotations  from  ap- 
proving Protestants,  such  as  Grotius,  Walton,  and  so  on, — are  not  only  to  no  pur- 
pose; but  absolutely  deceptions;  and  you,  had  you  been  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholars, 
would  have  known  all  this.  I  here,  beg  leave  to  challenge  any  scholar,  in  good  faith, 
to  produce  one  of  our  learned  Protestants  who  applauds  the  Roman  Latin  Vulgate, 

AS   IT  NOW  IS. 

Of  the  valuable  labors  of  Jerome,  none  approved  more  highly, — and  none  are 
more  able,  by  virtue  of  their  accomplished  education,  to  approve  more  highly,  than 
the  Protestants.  But  can  you  possibly  be  ignorant  of  what  Nolan  has  given  ample 
evidence,  that  St.  Augustine  himself,  though  he  did  indeed  approve  of  the  labors  of 
Jerome,  did  not  use  his  version :  he  used  the  old  Italick  verson  to  the  day  of  his 
death.  See  Nolan  p.  15.  and  the  learned  Home  has  shown  that,  from  the  days  of 
Cassiodorus,  down  to  Alcuin,  in  the  8th  century,  "  the  text  of  the  Vulgate  fell  into 
great  confusion  :  and  was  disfigured  by  the  innumerable  mistakes  of  copyists."  But 
the  most  curious  part  of  the  history  of  the  Vulgate  remains  to  be  told.  The  Council 
of  Trent,  small, — very  small  in  numbers ;  and  by  the  best  judges,  namely  the  Pro- 
testant literati,  deemed  still  smaller  in  literature  and  theology  [see  also  P.  Sarpi  Lib. 
2.  s.  51.]  did  actually  pronounce  the  Vulgate  with  all  its  palpable  errors,  to  be  inspi- 
red and  divine.  Like  father  Levins,  whom  I  have  had  the  honor  of  introducing  so 
advantageously  to  the  "Christian  public," — and  who  really  seems  not  to  be 
conscious  in  what  language  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  were  written,  unless  it 
was  the  old  Irish  ; — and  therefore,  he  blunders  out  his  taunts,  incessantly  "  against 
the  Greek  and  Hebrew  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  inspired  volumes," — these  same 
Tridentine  fathers  actually  preferred  the  Latin  version  of  the  Bible,  to  the  inspired 
originals  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew. 

These  fathers  appointed  a  committee  to  revise  and  correct  this  same  version,  which 
they  had  pronounced  inspired!  But,  in  as  much  as  this  thing  displeased  the  pope,  it 
was  delivered  over  into  his  care.  It  passed  through  no  less  than  three  popes'  hands. 
Sixtus  V.  had  it  published  as  the  only  pure  and  perfect  Vulgate.  He  issued  a  Bull, 
"enjoining  its  universal  reception;  and  threatening  with  no  less  than  perdition,  the 
man  who  shouldmake  the  slightest  alterations."  And,  though  issued  by  the  Infallible, 
in  the  plentitude  of  his  knowledge  and  power,  it  had  not  been  long  before  the  public, 
before  it  was  found  to  abound  with  damnable  errors  !  Hence  it  was  quickly  called  in. 
Clement  VIII.,  not  having  the  fear  of  the  Bull  of  Sixtus  before  his  eyes,  did  actually 
make  very  many  alterations  !  His  new  edition  he  published  in  A.  D.  1592  ;  and  like 
a  good  pope,  he  proped  and  barricaded  this  new,  and  a  second  time,  perfect  edition^  by 
a  similar  Bull,  pronouncing  it  now  to  be  immaculate,  and  the  only  Vulgate  !  And, 
in  the  plenitude  of  infallible  power,  he  prohibited  any  alterations  to  be  made  in  it,  by 
anybody,  on  pains  of  the  most  terrible  anathemas!  But  behold,  the  very  next  year, 
namely,  1593,  a  new,  corrected,  and  altered  edition  was  issued:  and  pronounced  to 
be  more  perfect  than  his  former  most  perfect  edition ! 

Now,  all  these  phenomena  are  easily  accounted  for.  It  was  not  for  want  of  scholar- 
ship to  translate  Hebrew  and  Greek  into  Latin.  No ;  the  real  insuperable  difficulty 
lay  in  getting  something  like  a  translation,  simply  with  a  view  to  lend  countenance  to 
the  new  Roman  system  of  doctrine,  and  rituals,  which  had  no  place,  nor  name,  nor  recog- 
nition in  all  the  word  of  God !  \ 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  71 

Now,  gentlemen,  in  your  laudatory  zeal  for  the  Vulgate,  I  call  on  you  publicly,  to 
say,  which  of  these  "infallibly  accurate,"  and  "contradictory"  versions  you  adhere 
to.  Dr.  James  in  liis  book,  "  BellumPapale,"  has  set  down  two  thousand  variations 
between  the  Sixtine,  and  the  Clementine  editions  of  your  Vulgate !  I  have  now  before 
me  a  large  selection,  in  which  the  first  pope's  version  leaves  out  whole  verses  which 
the  last  pope's  version  has!  Again,  the  Clementine  has  omitted  entire  clauses  which 
the  Sixtine  has  inserted.  I  have,  before  me,  a  hst  of  "manifest  contradictions," 
between  the  two :  with  many  other  remarkable  differences.  Now,  gentlemen,  to  which 
of  these  "  only  perfect  copies,"  of  these  equally  "  infallible,"  and  equally  contradictory 
popes,  do  you  yield  your  conscience  and  faith  ?  The  call  is  made  on  you  to  declare  this 
in  good  faith.  We  know  that  you  cannot.  We  know  that  you  have  manifested  an 
utter  want  of  information  on  this  whole  subject.  In  your  Letter  III.  you  say, — "  You, 
[Dr.  B.]  ought  to  know  that  the  Vulgate  version  was  made  when  the  best  and  purest 
copies  of  the  Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  Greek  and  Latin,  together  with  the  Polyglots  of  Ori- 
gen  were  to  be  had  :  that  this  version  has  been  constantly  in  the  hands  of  the  Western 
church,  in  all  its  extent,  for  15  centuries."  I  profess  it  is  impossible  to  quote,  even 
from  your  own  letters,  gentlemen,  another  sentence  containing  more  wilful  and  wdcked 
misrepresentations  than  these  :  or  one  exhibiting  more  profound  ignorance  of  the 
history  of  your  Vulgate  !  You  unblushingly  hold  up  the  idea  that  your  Vulgate  is  now 
precisely  what  Jerome  left  it !  And  you  conceal  the  endless  variations  and  innovations 
that  have  been  made  on  Jerome's  version,  by  the  Sixtine  and  Clementine  labours! ! 
I  beg  leave  merely  for  want  of  room,  to  refer  to  Home,  vol.  ii.  p.  p.  200.  201  :  for  a 
comparative  view  of  these  variations  :  and  "  manifest  contradictions,"  beween  the  two 
popes'  editions  of  your  Vulgate.  As  for  the  true  version  of  Jerome,  it  is  of  great  value. 

The  Douay  Bible,  now  before  the  public,  exhibits  the  unhallowed  liberties  taken  by- 
unprincipled  men,  with  the  word  of  God.  For  instance,  in  the  second  commandment 
your  Douay  renders  the  first  clause,  "  thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven 
thing"  instead  of  "image:"  And  the  phrase  "thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  to 
them,"  you  corruptly  render  "thou  shalt  not  adore  them."  In  the  New  Testament 
you  render  ^trui/aJTre  "  do  penance;"  whereas  it  never  meant  on  classic,  or  Bible  page, 
any  thing  else  than  this, — "  be  ye  changed  in  your  minds  by  repentance,"  or  "re- 
pent ye."  In  violation  of  all  chronology,  you  convert  John  the  Baptist,  and  St  Peter 
into  heretical  Roman  priests,  and  make  them  preach  the  modem  cant  of, — "  Do 
penance;  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand;"  and  again,  "  do  penance  and  be 
baptized."  Do  penance,  verily!  A  thing  this  is,  which  John  and  Peter  never 
heard  of,  and  never  conceived  of,  in  their  pure  evangelical  minds  ! 

Moreover,  this  same  Douay  Vulgate  converts  the  apostle  Paul's  solemn  warning 
in  Colosians  ii.  18,  against  the  idolatrous  worship  of  angels,  into  an  impenetrable 
mysticism  of  language ;  or  else  a  real  exhortation  to  be  "  voluntary  in  humility, 
and  the  religion"  or  worship  "of  angels!"  And  what  fills  every  devout  christian 
with  utter  amazement,  your  Vulgate  converts  the  good  old  patiiarch  Jacob  into  a 
drivelling  Roman  idolator,  in  his  last  moments.  Will  the  pubhc  believe  me,  when 
I  assure  them  that  the  Roman  Douay  Bible,  lately  published  in  New  York, 
renders  Hebrews  xi.  21,  in  the  following  manner— "  JACOB  ADORED  THE 
TOP  OF  HIS  STAFF !"  Therefore  I  repeat  what  I  formerly  asserted,  that  the 
Vulgate,  as  it  now  is,  is  one  of  the  worst  and  most  mischievous  versions  of  the 
Bible !  And  it  is  a  base  and  immoral  hterary  imposition  on  the  public,  to  call 
your  Vulgate  the   version  of  Jerome  ! 


72  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

I  ouo^ht  here  to  notice  your  injurious  reflections  on  tiie  Hebrew  and  Greek  origi- 
nals in  Letter  III. — "These  have  been,  during  many  ages  in  the  hands  of  wander* 
in(r  Jews,  &c. ;  and,  therefore,  you  cannot  possibly  answer  for  the  changes  they 
have  undergone:  and  you  thence  recommend  "deep  silence  on  this  point."  Here 
you  gravely  assume  the  supposition  that  the  wandering  Jews  and  oppressed  Asiatics 
have  been  carrying  ali,  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  originals  with  them :  that  the  christ- 
ian churches  in  Asia,  in  Africa,  and  Europe  had  no  copies !  Does  this  require  any 
sober  reply?  Does  not  every  scholar  know  that  Jews  and  christians,  possessing  each, 
many  ancient  copies,  have  been  anxiously  watching  each  other.  And  the  immense 
labours  of  Dr.  Kennicot,  in  his  splendid  Hebrew  Bible,  and  those  of  M.  De  Rossi,  of 
Pai-ma,  have  fully  "  ascertained  the  integrity  of  the  sacred  Hebrew  text."  Not  one 
item  touching  "  doctrines,  moral  precepts,  and  historical  relations,"  is  injured,  far 
less  invalidated  by  the  Variffi  Lectiones.  And  to  give  some  idea  of  the  pains  taken 
•by  these  Hebrew  scholars,  Kennicot  has  given  a  catalogue  of  a  hundred  Hebrew 
-manuscripts  in  the  libraries  of  Oxford,  Cambridge,  and  the  British  Museum.  And 
M.  de  Rossi  collated  479  Hebrew  manuscripts ;  and  288  printed  editions  !  And, 
finally,  I  shall  quote  in  reply  to  you,  the  words  of  Jerome  Lib.  3.  com.  in 
Esaiam  :— "  Si  quis  dixerit,  &c.  If  any  one  shall  say  that  the  Hebrew  books 
were  afterwards  corrupted  by  the  Jews;  let  him  hear  Origen  what  he  answers 
in  the  8th  volume  of  his  explanations  of  Esay,  &c."  Again, — "But  if  they  sa^ 
that  the  Hebrews  falsified  them  after  the  coming  of  Christ  and  the  preaching  of 
the  aposties,  I  cannot  hold  from  laughter  that  our  Savior  and  his  aposties 
should  so  cite  testimonies  of  scripture,  as  the  Jews  would  afterwards  deprave  them, 
&c."  See  also  Bishop  Hall,  p.  589.  And  the  famous  saying  of  Reuchline,  and 
Jerome  advers.  Helvidium.,  ought  to  be  well  known  to  you, — "  The  Hebrews  drink 
of  the  well  head :  the  Greeks  of  the  stream ;  and  the  Latins  of  the  puddle !" 

I  remember  that,  in  one  of  our  Protestant  debates,  Dr.  Power  raised  his  hand 
toward  heaven,  and  made  an  awful  appeal  to  God,  that  he  and  his  clerical  friends 
did  earnestiy  encourage  his  people,  the  laity,  to  read  the  holy  scriptures ;  that  is, 
in-  the  English  language  !  Now,  gentlemen,  will  you  affirm  that  THERE  IS  ANY 
ONE  VERSIOn'oF  THE  BIBLE  IN  ENGLISH,  THAT  IS  AUTHORIZED 
BY  THE  POPE,  OR  THE  CHURCH?  I  defy  you  to  answer  in  the  affirma- 
tive !  And,  if  not,  where  was  Dr.  Power's  faith,  and  honor,  in  that  heaven  daring 
appeal  ! 

V.  You  have  not  the  vnanimous  consent  of  the  Fathers  to  your  novel  rule  :  on  the 
contrary,  the  best  and  greatest  of  them  are  decidedly  against  you,  and  in  favor  of 
our  Protestant  rule.     This  is  a  matter  of  historical  fact. 

Augustine  says; — "  The  city  of  God  detests  doubts,  as  the  madness  of  the  Aca- 
demicians. For  she  beheves  the  sacred  scriptures  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
tament, which  we  call  canonical ;  whence  our  faith  is  derived,  whereby  the  just 
lives;  and  by  means  of  which  we  walk  without  wavering."  Civ.  Dei.  lib.  19.  c. 
18,  vol.  7,  Paris  Edit,  of  1685. 

Again: — "Who  is  ignorant  that  the  canonical  scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  are  contained  within  certain  limits ;  and  that  it  is  to  be  preferred  to  all 
the  subsequent  writings  of  bishops;  so  that  no  one  can  doubt,  or  dispute  concerning 
it,  whether  whatsoever  is  written  in  it,  be  true  and  right."  On  Baptism  against  the 
Donatists,  Lib.  2.  c.  3.  vol.  9. 

Again: — "In  things  which  are  openly  set  forth  in  the  scriptures,  those  things  are 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  73 

to  be  found  which  comprise  faith  and  moral  conduct."     On  Chr.  Doctr.  Lib.  2.  c.  9. 
vol.  3. 

Again  : — "  There  are  undoubtedly  books  of  the  Lord,  whose  authority  both  of  us 
acknowledge,  which  we  mutually  believe  and  obey.  Here  let  us  seek  the  church  ; 
here  let  us  discuss  our  doctrines,  &c."  "  I  will  not  have  the  holy  church  proved  by- 
human  documents,  but  by  divine  oracles."     Tom.  9.  p.  341. 

Again: — "Read  these  things  to  us  from  the  law,  the  prophets,  the  Psalms,  the 
gospels,  apostolical  writings  ;  read,  and  we  v/ill  believe."     Do.  cap.  6. 

Again  in  his  Tract  2.  in  Epist.  Johan.,  he  says, — "  Against  treacherous  errors 
God  would  place  our  strength  in  the  scriptures ;  against  which  none  that  would,  any- 
way, seem  a  christian,  dares  to  speak."  I  beg  the  particular  attention  of  you  all, 
gentlemen,  to  these  last  words  of  one  of  your  own  saints !  And,  as  my  simile  of  the 
*'  carrier,"  was  deemed  by  you  impious,  learn  if  you  please  whence  I  had  it.  Augustine 
on  Ps.  Ivi.  Vol.  4.  p.  534,  says, — "We  produce  books  from  our  enemies  ;  and  con- 
found others  of  our  foes.  In  what  opprobrium,  therefore,  are  the  Jews?  The  Jew 
carries  the  book  whence  the  christian  draws  his  faith.  These  have  been  our  librarians."* 
"These  Jews  appear  from  the  holy  scriptures  which  they  carry,  as  does  the  face  of  a 
mirror,  &c." 

Again  : — "  Whether  the  Donatists  hold  the  church,  non  nisi  divinarum,  &c.  let 
them  only  show  by  the  canonical  books  of  scripture.  For  neither  do  we  say  thev 
should  believe  us,  that  we  are  in  the  church  of  God,  because  Optatus  or  Ambrose 
had  commended  this  church  unto  us,  which  we  now  hold ;  or  because  it  is  acknow- 
ledged by  the  councils  of  our  fellow  teachers :  or  because  so  great  miracles  are  done 
in  it :  it  is  not,  therefore,  manifested  to  be  true,  and  catholic.  But  it  is  the  loill  of 
Christ  that  his  disciples  should  be  conjirmed  by  the  testimony  of  the  law  and  prophets. 
These  are  the  rules  of  our  cause  :  these  are  the  foundations  :  these  are  the  confirma- 
tions."    Aug.  in  Psalm  69.     Bishop  Hall,  p.  592,  folio. 

I  beg  one  quotation  more  to  show  this  father's  views  of  the  plenitude  of  scripture  r 
"  John  testifies  that  Christ  hath  said,  and  did  many  things  that  are  not  written.  But 
those  things  were  selected  to  be  luritten  which  seemed  to  suffice  for  the  salvation  of  be- 
lievers.''    In  John.  Tract.  49.  vol.  iii.  619. 

Jerome  thus  writes  : — "  The  church  of  Christ,  who  has  churches  in  the  whole 
world,  is  united  by  the  unity  of  the  Spirit;  and  has  the  cities  of  the  law,  the  prophets, 
and  the  gospel,  and  the  apostles :  she  has  not  gone  forth  from  her  boundaries,  id  est 
&c.  that  is,  from,  the  holy  scriptures.'"  Tom.  5.  p.  334,  Paris  Edit,  of  1602.  Again : 
— "But  the  word  of  God  smiteth  the  other  things,  which  they  spontaneously  discover, 
and  feign  as  it  were,  by  an  apostolical  authority,  without  the  authority  and  testimony 
of  scripture.""  Comment,  in  Hag.  c.  1  Tom.  5.  p.  506.  This  testimony  of  Jerome 
strikes  your  popish  rule  dead!  Again  : — "The  Lord  will  speak  in  the  scriptures  of 
the  people :  in  the  holy  scriptures ;  which  are  read  to  the  people  with  the  intent  that 
all  may  understand  it."  "  As  the  Apostles  wrote,  so  also  the  Lord  hath  spoken ; — 
that  is,  by  the  gospels;  not  in  order  that  a  few,  but  that  all  may  understand."  "  The 
chiefs  of  the  church,  and  the  chiefs  of  Christ  did  not  write  to  a  few  but  to  the  whole 
people.  And  see  what  he  says  of  the  princes,  that  is,  of  the  apostles,  and  the  evan- 
gelists who  were  in  her.  He  says  who  were,  not  are,  so  that,  luith  the  exception  of  the 
apostles,  whatsoever  should  afterwards  be  said,  should  be  cut  off,  and  should  henceforth 
have  no  authority."     Jerome,  Tom.  vii.  p.  2.59,  Paris  Edit,  1602. 

8 


y4  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

In  Tom.  iii.  lib.  24 ;  and  in  Tom.  ix.  p.  186.,  Jerome  mentions  the  books  oOhe 
apocrypha  :  and  declares  them  not  of  the  canon :  and  *'  not  to  be  brought  forward  for 
the  confirmation  of  faith." 

Chrysostom,  another  of  your  saints,  is  decidedly  pitted  against  your  popery.  And 
will  any  intelligent  Roman  catholic  prefer  the  extravagance  of  modern  priests  to  St. 
Chrysostom?  "I  always  exhort,"  said  he,  "and  will  never  cease  to  exhort  yon, 
that  you  will  not  only  attend  to  the  things  spoken  to  you  here,  but  when  you  are  at 
home,  you  continually  busy  yourselves  in  reading  the  holy  scriptures  ;  which  prac- 
tice also  I  have  not  ceased  to  drive  into  them  which  come  privily  to  me."  Homil.  iii. 
on  Lazar. 

Again: — "  Sayest  thou,  O  man,  it  is  not  for  thee  to  turn  over  the  scriptures,  who 
art  distracted  with  cares?  Nay,  it  is  for  thee,  more  than  for  them,  &;c."  This 
great  preacher  then  goes  on  to  answer  the  people's  objections  that  they  could  not  well 
understand  the  Bible.  Now,  behold  how  much  the  tables  are  turned  by  the  modern 
innovations  of  popery  :  "  The  spirit  of  God  has  so  dispensed  this  w^ord,  that  publi- 
cans, fishers,  tent-makers,  shepherds,  goat  herds,  (aipolous)  and  even  idiotai,  the 
most  illiterate  men,  may  be  saved  by  these  books."  Homil.  in  Genes.  29.  And  I 
shall  add  out  of  his  Homily  ninth  on  Colossians :  "  Hear  I  beseech  you  all  ye 
secular  men ;  provide  for  yourselves  Bibles,  which  are  the  medicines  for  the  soul :  at 
least  get  the  New  Testament."  Again: — "  All  things  are  intelUgible  and  straight  in 
the  divine  scripture  :  all  things  that  are  necessary,  are  clear."  Horn.  iii.  on  2  Thes. 
ii.  Again: — "Ignorance  of  the  scriptures  is  the  cause  of  all  evils."  Hom.  ix.  on 
Colos.  iii.  And  finally: — "The  knowledge  of  the  holy  Bible  is  a  powerful  defence 
against  sin :  while  an  ignorance  of  them  is  a  deep  precipice,  a  profound  gulph !  It 
is  a  great  betraying  of  salvation  to  know  nothing  of  the  divine  law  :  it  is  this  igno- 
rance which  has  given  birth  to  heresies !  They  have  occasioned  the  corruption  of 
morals!"     Third  Serm.  on  Lazar. 

I  have  copied  thus  fully  from  this  great  and  beautiful  Greek  writer ;  because  padre 
Levins  seemed  to  insinuate  my  ignorance  of  him ;  and  boasted  rather  unseasonably 
of  his  own  acquaintance  with  him  !  Does  padre  Levins  read  Greek  ?  It  is  different 
from  Irish,  somewhat! 

Athanasius  thus  wTites; — "If  ye  are  disciples  of  the  gospel,  speak  not  unright- 
eously against  God  :  but  walk  in  the  things  that  are  written.  But  if  you  will  speak 
any  thing  besides  that  which  is  written,  why  do  you  contend  against  us,  who  are  de- 
termined neither  to  hear,  nor  to  speak  any  thing  but  that  which  is  written  ?  The 
Lord  himself  says,  if  ye  continue  in  my  word,  ye  are  truly  free !"  On  the  Incarn.  of 
Christ,  Paris  Edit,  of  1627. 

Once  more  : — "  For  the  holy  and  divinely  inspired  scriptures  are  of  themselves  suf- 
Jicient  for  the  discovery  oftruth.^'  Speech  against  the  Gent.  Paris  Edit.  And  per- 
mit me  to  add  that  this  father  who  flourished  from  A.  D.  335 — 340,  has  given  us  a 
list  of  the  canonical  books  ;  and  a  list  of  the  books  not  inspired,  viz.  the  apocrypha. 
See  his  Synops.  of  the  holy  Script.  Paris  Edit,  of  1627.  This  list  accords  entirely 
with  ours. 

Tertullian  says,  "I  adore  the  plenitude  of  the  scriptures."  And  in  his  book 
against  Hermogenes,  he  says,  "  Let  this  man's  school  show  that  it  is  in  the  scriptures  : 
if  it  is  not  in  the  scriptures,  let  him  fear  the  curse  directed  against  those  who  add  or 
diminish."  See  his  Advers.  Hermog.  Paris  Edit,  of  1675,  p.  241.  I  put  it  to  every 
discreet  layman,  if  our  priests  will  honor  and  obey  this  father,  in  these  words  ! 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  75 

In  a  word,  I  am  prepared  to  prove,  by  any  amount  of  quotations,  that  the  Greek 
and  Latin  fathers  of  the  first  live  centuries,  held  to  the  very  letter  of  the  following 
words  of  Augustine :  "  Sancta  scriptura  nostras  doctrinae  regalum  figit."  "  The  holy 
scriptures  determine  or  fix  the  rule  of  our  doctrine".  Or  with  St.  Gregory,  the  pope, 
"  In  this  volume  (the  Bible,)  are  written  down  all  that  can  instruct  us."  Hom.  9.  in 
Ezek. ;  and  in  the  most  accurate  conception  of  St.  Chrysostom, — "  The  canon 
ceases  to  be  the  canon,  if  an}-  thing  is  added,  or  taken  aw- ay  from  it."  Hom.  12,  on 
ch.  iii.  of  Philippians :  and  in  the  decisive  works  of  Basil :  "  It  is  right  and  neces- 
sary that  every  one  should  learn  that  which  is  useful,  from  the  holy  scriptures;  both 
for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  the  mind  with  greater  piety,  and  also  that  they  may  not 
be  accustomed  to  human  traditions.''''     Tom.  2  p.  449.  Bened.  Edit.  Paris,  1722. 

And  here  I  deem  it  not  inappropriate  to  introduce  the  testimony  of  your  own  Bel- 
larmine,  De  Verbo  Dei  Lib.  i.  cap.  2.  Sacra  scriptura  &c. — "  Sacred  scripture  is 
the  most  certain  rule  of  faith."  And  again; — "At  sacris  scripturis,  &c.  Bat  no- 
thing is  better  known,  nothing  more  sacred  than  the  holy  scriptures,  which  are  con- 
tained in  the  prophetical  and  apostolical  writings :  so  that  he  who  refuses  to  believe 
in  them,"  namely,  as  "the  most  certain  rule  of  faith," — "  is  the  most  foolish  being"— 
the  most  consummate  of  fools, — stultisimum.  For  that  they  are  most  perfectly  known, 
the  christian  w^orld  is  witness ;  and  the  consent  of  all  nations,  among  whom  for  ma- 
ny ages,  their  supreme  authority,  summum  auctoritatan,  has  been  admitted  ;  and 
they  are  moreover  most  certain,  and  most  true,  containing  no  human  inventions,  but 
tJie  divine  oracles. ^^    Lib.  i.  c.  2. 

We  are  now  prepared,  gentlemen,  for  our  argument.  Whatever,  with  you,  has  not 
the  unanimous  consent  of  the  fathers,  cannot  be  a  doctrine  of  j^our  church.  But,  here 
we  have  demonstrated  the  historical  fact,  that  you  have  not  only  not  the  unanimous 
consent, — but  it  is  entirely,  and  most  manifestly  against  you,  and  in  our  favor. 
Hence,  on  your  own  principles,  you  must  admit  that  the  holy  scriptures  alone  are 
the  rule  of  faith.  And  your  pretended  infallible  rule,  is  condemned  by  the  holy 
scriptures,  and  by  the  fathers. 

VI.  In  you  Letter  III.,  you  make  Augustine  affirm,  that  3Iarcellinus  was  not  an 
idolater ;  that  this  "  slander  was  raised  by  the  Donatists."  In  reply  I  beg  leave  to 
say  that  you  ought  to  know  more  accurately  the  sentiments  of  your  own  writers. 
Your  ow-n  Pope  ^neas  Sylvius,  Pius  II.,  says:  "We  might  adduce  many  examples 
of  Romish  pontiffs,  if  our  time  permitted  us,  who  were  either  heretics,  or  stained  with 
other  vices.  Nor  does  it  escape  us  that  Marcellinus offered  incense  to  idols;  and  that 
another  pope  which  is  worse  and  more  horrible,  was  raised  to  the  popedom  by  the 
arts  of  the  devil !"  You  will  find  these  words  in  his  Comment  on  the  Acts  of  the 
Council  of  Basil,  p.  9;  Finch  p.  110. 

VII.  In  Letter  III.,  you  also  venture  to  represent  "Holy  Mother"  saying  that  "no 
enlightened  son  of  mine  ever  taught  the  doctrine  that  infallibility  was  lodged  in  the 
pope  alone."  Here  is  another  instance  of  the  most  reckless  disregard  of  truth.  You 
do  certainly  admit  Bellarmine  to  be  an  "enlightened  son;"  at  any  rate,  in  the  same 
letter,  you  make  "Holy  Moilier"  call  him  "my  faithful  son!"  Now  let  me  direct 
your  eyes  to  Bellarmine  De  Con.  Auct.  Lib.  ii.  cap.  17.  "  The  supreme  pontiff 
is  simply  and  absolutely  above  the  church  universal,  and  above  a  general  council ;  so 
that  he  acknowledges  no  jurisdiction  on  earth  above  himself,"  &c.  Again:  "Se- 
eundo  :  probatur,"  &c.  Secondly,  it  is  proved  by  an  argument  from  scripture.  For 
all  the  names,  which  in  the  scripture  are  applied  to  Christ,  proving  him  to  be  above 


76  ROMA?f    CATHOIilC    CONTROVERsr. 

the  church,  are  in  Hke  manner  appUed  to  the  pope  :  as,  first;  Christ  is  pater  famiUaS, 
tiie  head  of  the  family:  so  is  the  pontiff:  he  is  pater  familias;  loco  Christi,  in  the 
place  of  Christ!"  I  do  not  know,  gentlemen,  what  your  bishop  may  think  of  this 
misrepresentation,  and  unprincipled  disregard  of  truth  and  honesty :  or  whether  six 
months  penance,  by  flagellation,  and  hair  cloth  would  not  be  deemed  too  little !  But, 
we  Protestants  think  that  such  flagrant  crimes  cannot  be  washed  away,  but  by  years 
of  deep  repentance  through  the  Redeemer's  blood ! 

VIII.  The  Jesuits  have  been  in  the  habit  of  opposing  the  Bible  rule  of  faith  by  an 
argument  taken  from  the  abuse  of  it  by  the  different  sectaries.  My  opponents,  and 
jMr.  Hughes  also  copy  it  out  of  Mumford ;  and  select  "  the  Arian  Cobler"  into  whose 
iips  the\'-  put  many  possible  objections  ;  and  profess,  finally,  that  his  opponent  cannot 
defend  the  Bible  doctrines  against  him.  It  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  the  infi- 
dels of  France  employed  this  silly  form  of  argument  against  Christianity.  Volney  has 
it,  at  full  length,  in  his  "Ruins,"  Lond.  Edit.  Chap.  21.  He  introduces  the  Jews, 
the  Roman  Cathohcs,  the  Lutherans,  the  Mohammedans,  and  the  Pagans,  into  the 
^^resence  of  the  French  Directory.  Into  the  lips  of  the  christians,  he  puts  speeches, 
%vhich  exhibit  the  quintescence  of  nonsense  and  absurdity  ;  and  from  the  abuse  of  a 
good  and  holy  thing  by  bad  men,  Volney  exactly  as  you  do,  turns  all  rehgion  into 
Tidicule.  This  is  matched  only  by  the  priests'  case  of  the  "Arian  Cobler,"  into 
^vhose  lips  the  greatest  absurdities  are  put  by  them.  And  while  all  his  objections 
might  be  easily  refuted  by  any  of  our  sabbath  scholars,  who  are  well  taught  the  usual 
texts  to  prove  our  Lord's  supreme  deity,  the  priests  quote  his  abuse,  as  arguments 
against  our  Bible  rule.  Most  unquestionably  that  is  a  bad  cause  which  resorts  to  the 
logic  of  reasoning  against  a  good  thing,  from  the  abuses  of  it  by  the  follies  of  men  r 
and  blesses  the  deist,  in  order  to  hurt  the  Protestant. 

IX.  The  doctrine  of  intention  as  held  by  your  church,  1  did  fairly  state  in  my 
argument  against  you.  You  make  the  efficacy  of  all  your  sacraments  to  depend  on 
the  priest's  intention  to  make  them  what  the  church  intends  them  to  be.  Thus, 
unless  the  Bishop  had  the  intention  in  his  soul  and  conscience,  to  ordain  you,  and 
•make  you,  bona  fide,  the  priests  of  the  church, — then  you  are  not  ordained.  This  is 
the  solemn  doctrine  of  Trent,  backed  by  anathemas !  But  you  cannot  prove  his 
intention;  and  no  mortal  can.  Hence,  you  have  no  evidence,  under  heaven,  that 
you  are  true  priests.  And  if  you  claim  the  office,  and  administer  at  the  altar,  with- 
out true  ordination ;  you  expose  yourselves  to  eternal  damnation !  And  how  did 
you,  gentlemen,  reply  to  this,  in  Letter  v.  ?  By  a  marvellous  process,  verily !  You 
assumed  without  an  attempt  at  proof,  that  Protestants  held  also  this  absurd  and  impi- 
ous doctrine :  and  then  very  gravely  turned  on  me,  and  asked  how  I  knew  when  I 
liad  the  intention!  This  is  supremely  ridiculous,  that  learned  priests,  professedly 
opposing  Protestants,  should  be  so  profoundly  ignorant  of  our  doctrine  !  Sirs,  we 
reject  your  doctrine  of  intention  with  abhorrence;  as  one  of  the  prominent  marks 
of  John's  Apocalyptic  Beast !  And  we  reiterate  our  argument :  and  put  you  to 
prove  the  Bishop's  intention,  or  your  ordination.  You  never  can  prove  your  ordina- 
tion !  You  can  never  have  faith  in  your  own  priesthood !  You  never  can  have  a 
moment's  freedom  from  the  justest  doubts  that  you  may  be  in  mortal  sin  I  You  can 
never  find  repose,  by  a  thousand  masses,  from  the  alarming  uncertainty,  that  in  a  few- 
hours,  you  may  be  in  the  horrors  of  perdition !    Deplorable  result  of  practical  popery  I: 

In  your  last  tivo  letters  you  have  not  succeeded  in  bringing  forward  one  single  nex^r 
idea,  in  the  way  of  defensive,  or  ofTensive  operations  I     And  what  has  struck  all  our 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  77 

readers,  you  have  not  replied  to,  nor  even  noticed,  one  of  the  ten  arguments  brought 
against  your  novel  rule  of  faith  !  This  silence  being  the  full  admission  of  discomfi- 
ture, I  shall  now  leave  the  rule  of  faith,  and  go  forward  into  the  chambers  of  your 
*'Holy  Mother's"  imagery, — which  will  be  seen  to  set  at  defiance,  in  sober  truth,  all 
that  the  holy  Ezekiel,  in  vision,  beheld  in  olden  times  of  the  wicked  Jews ! 

This  closes  the  first  part  of  my  letters.  We  have  succeeded,  we  believe,  in  esta- 
blishing the  fact  by  evidence  of  a  painful  nature,  namely,  their  own  admissions  and 
arguments,  that  the  Romish  priests  are  decidedly  deists  from  principle!  I  have  rea- 
son to  believe  that  there  is  not  a  doubt  of  this  left  on  the  minds  of  the  rehgious  com- 
munity. And  one  of  the  strongest  confirmations  is  this,  every  infidel  has  hailed 
the  priest's  letters  as  uncompromising  auxiliaries  to  their  cause,  and  bitter  warfare 
against  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ! !     This  is  a  matter  of  public  notoriety. 

We  have  succeeded,  also,  we  trust,  in  establishing  this  fact,  that  the  first  principle 
held  by  the  Roman  catholic  church  takes  away  from  its  members,  the  sacred  rights  of 
thinking,  and  reasoning,  and  acting  according  to  their  own  consciences  :  that,  in  fact, 
the  priest  permits  no  exercise  of  conscience  :  no  rights  of  private  judgment  whatever, 
on  matters  of  religion ! !  The  Roman  priests  wield  a  system  which  converts  man 
into  a  mere  mechanical  engine,  in  order  that  he  may  think,  and  move,  and  act,  and 
dispose  of  his  soul,  body,  spirit,  and  property,  just  as  the  holy  priests  prescribe.  No 
Roman  Dictator  ever  wielded  a  more  tyranical  and  terrific  power,  in  pagan  empire, 
than  that  of  our  priests ! ! 

And  finally,  we  have  shown,  even  at  this  stage  of  our  argument,  that  the  Roman 
catholic  church, — I  mean  not  the  many  gallant  and  patriotic  men  in  her, — but  her 
system  of  religion,  is  a  necessary  and  deadly  enemy  to  all  liberty, — personal  and  nC' 
iional ;  to  all  liberty,  civil  and  religions!  ! 

I  am,  Gentlemen,  Yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PRIESTS'  LETTER  VII. 

It  opens  with  a  discussion  on  Dr.  B.'s  "  gnawing  and  bitter  conviction  of  defeat," — and 
his  "writhing  under  the  bitterness  of  discomfiture."  "  The  inspired  of  tlie  M.  D.  Church 
has  exhausted  his  argument."     '•  His  rule  of  faith  and  calvinistic  creed  are  in  our  clutch  !" 

They  proceed  to  go  over  all  of  Dr.  B.'s  letters,  one  by  one,  and  lament  his  hopeless  fail- 
ure, in  characteristic  slang. 

"Aware  of  the  torture  of  mind  you  now  experience  from  defeat,  we  will,  in  charity,  as- 
cribe the  irritability  of  your  temper  to  the  consciousness  of  failure  in  establishing  your  rule 
of  faith." 

"To  aflix  a  stigma  on  Nuns  and  Jesuits,  you  and  your  ^virtuous  ladies'  sanctioned  the 
gross  and  polluting  iiction — 'Lorctte.'" 

"  Yes,  whether  in  die  pulpit  or  the  street;  whether  interpreting  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek 
of  the  Holy  Ghost;'  whedier  directing  your  'virtuous  ladies'  by  the  gaslight  of  your  interior 
spirit  to  the  realms  of  Elysium,  or  manufacturing,  by  patent  right,  chains,  and  sulphur,  and 
anathema  for  your  polcmac  antagonists,  you  will  be  hailed  the  Preacher  who  approved  an 
obscene  slander  for  the  instruction  of  dieir  sons  and  daughters." 

"  Does  it  make  your  heart  the  domicile  of  the  interior  spirit  ?  Does  it  not  prove  your  inti- 
macy with  the  'Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost?'  " 

"  You  inform  'your  friends  you  were  but  skirmishing.'  This  was  a  strange  avowal  from 
a  Religionist,  who  professes  such  zealotry  of  adhesion  to  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  ?'  " 

8* 


78  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

"There  is  no  proof ,  no  form  of  proof ;  and,  yet,  the  logical  Preacher  imagined  he  had  de^ 
monstrated  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God  !" 

"  Therefore  he  has  not  yet  demonstrated  that  the  Bible  is  the  Word  of  God :  therefore,  he 
has  not  yet  affixed  a  rational  character  to  his  Rule  of  Faith  ;  therefore,  in  the  selection  of 
his  religion  he  is  not  governed  by  discretion ;  therefore,  his  faith  is  mere  human  opinion — 
therefore,  he  has  no  foundation  on  which  to  rest  his  hope  of  eternal  salvation ! !  !" 

"  What  think  you  now,  inspired  Preacher,  of  your  rule  of  faith  ?  What  think  you  of 
'  our  forms  of  reason  !'  '  Is  not  your  rule,' — that  is,  the  holy  scriptures, — '  torn  up  and  scat- 
tered to  the  winds  ?  Is  it  not,' — that  is,  God's  holy  scriptures, — '  like  the  bubble  blown  by 
the  child  in  the  sport  of  infancy,  flimsy,  and  hollow?  Is  it  not,' — that  is,  the  Holy  Spirit 
sueakino;  in  God's  word, — '  a  shell  around  vacuity  ;  but  without  a  tincture  of  the  rainbow 
colouring,  which  gladdens  the  infant's  sight  ?'  " 

[Note.  One  is  forcibly  reminded  of  the  similar  impious  boastings  of  Thomas  Paine,  X\xdX 
he  had,  also,  annihilated  the  holy  scriptures  !] 

"You  have  not  yet  proved  the  Bible  to  be  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  Bible,  by  the  very 
terms  of  your  rule  of  faith,  must  be  the  actual  foundation  of  every  argument  you  logically 
should  use." 

"  Excellent, — worthy  of  the  gigantic  Erudite  in  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.'  " 

"  His  intellect  is  not  manufactured  from  penetrable  stuff: — it  is  as  guihless  of  thought  and 
argument  at  the  present  hour,  as  when  it  exulted  in  the  gasconade  of  "  CHALLENGE" 
against  his  opponents." 

"  To  change  poor  Brownlee,  do  not  hope  ; 

'Tis  vaiu  to  shave  an  Ass'sface, 

And  ouly  labor  to  mifeplace. 

And  loss  of  words,  indeed,  as  well  as  soap." 

"  Your  creed  is  the  dropsied  offspring  of  mere  human  opinion, — it  is  an  emanation  from 
the  passions  of  earth, — it  is  too  gross  to  ascend  above  earth's  exhalations, — it  cannot  elevate 
human  hope  to  the  Seraph's  abode, — it  cannot  console  on  earth,  it  cannot  say  I  have  a  rest- 
ing place  in  Heaven  ! — Defeat,  discomfiture,  and  rout,  this  is  a  bitter  and  gnawing  convic- 
tion. Degraded,  dishonored,  unpitied !  How  vanquished  gasconade  will  fret  its  heart  in 
sullenness !  How  misery  will  ruminate  ovej-  the  indiscretion  of  CHALLENGE,  and  yearn 
for  the  reputation  lost  and  the  pinnacle  from  which  it  fell !  A  GREAT  MAN  has  fallen  in 
Israel !  Ye  choristers  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church  mufile  your  tones  of  joy,  '  the  inspired 
Writer  oi  Zion,  and  he  that  was  clothed  in  the  best  sold,— how  is  he  esteemed  as  an  earthen 


"  In  pointing  out  some  of  the  apparently  contradictory  texts  of  the  Bible,  we  were  con- 
vinced that  Dr.  Brownlee  believed  his  rule  of  faith  to  be  perfectly  consistent,  and  that  his 
proofs  would  be  given  in  all  the  fulness  of  an  erudite  in  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.'  We  have  not  been  disappointed.  This  theologue,  whose  '  only  rule  of 
Faith  is  the  icritten  tcord  of  God,  and  judge  of  controversy,  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  to  us  in  it' 
tells  us  that  this  rule,  is  not  contradictory,  because  Bochart,  Whitby,  Ligiitfoot,  Jahn 
and  Bug,  tell  him,  there  is  no  contradiction  to  be  found  in  the  passages  we  have  quoted. 
Doctor  Brownlee  believes  that  there  are  no  really  contradictory  passages  in  the  scriptures, 
his  rule  of  faith." 

"  We  now  call  on  the  Preacher  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  to  produce  one  passage  of 
holy  writ,  to  prove,  that  there  is  no  contradiction  in  the  places  to  which  we  have  referred." 

'•  But,  how  can  you  refer  the  people  to  the  scriptures  for  the  belief  of  those  points  of  chris- 
tian faith,  which  are  not  found  in  the  scriptures,  such  as  the  canonicity,  the  integrity,  and 
inspiration  of  the  books  of  scriptures  ?" 

"  But  is  it  not  the  extreme  of  folly  in  one,  whose  only  rule  of  faith  is  the  Bible,  thus  to 
declaim  in  favor  of  tradition  ?" 

"  Why,  Rev.  Sir,  the  veriest  old  crone  among  your  virtuous  ladies,  will  see  that  this  con- 
clusion is  not  contained  in  the  premises,  and  that  the  inveterate  habit  of  drawing  such  con- 


ROaL\IT    CATHOLIC     CONTROVERT.  79 

elusions,  argues  a  '  derangement  of  the  moral  faculty.'  One  thing  is  certain,  the  Holy 
Ghost  must  consider  you,  no  extraordinary  genius,  when  after  a  course  of  some  thirty  or 
forty  years  in  his  school,  you  display  such  ignorance  of  elementary  principles." 

"  Strange,  Rev.  Sir,  that  YOUR  ONLY  JUDGE  OF  CONTROVERSY,  THE  HOLY 
GHOST,  SPEAKING  TO  YOU  IN  THE  SCRIPTURES  does  not  decide  this  Contro- 
versy between  you.'' 

"  Your  attacks  on  the  Vulgate  you  have  borrowed  from  Pope's  fourth  speech  in  the  dis- 
cussion witfi  McGuire.  The  Catholic  champion  earnestly  called  on  the  biblical  crusader 
to  compare  the  Sixtine  and  Clementine  editions  of  the  Bible,  with  the  Vulgate  of  St.  Je- 
rome, and  to  point  out  any  substantial  difference,  if  any  could  be  found.  This  he  did  not  do, 
and  for  a  very  obvious  reason.  Yet  after  this  failure  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Pope,  you  have  the 
effrontery  to  invoke  '  all  the  learned  to  judge  between  us,'  and  you  pronounce  our  quota- 
tions from  approving  Protestants  as  deceptions  and  absolutely  to  no  purpose.'' 

"  Protestants  ought  to  pause  before  they  institute  a  comparison  between  their  English 
translation  of  the  Bible,  and  our  Doway  translation.  They  are  the  children  of  the  Bible, 
and  of  the  most  abominably  corrupted  Bible,  that  ever  appeared.  We  make  no  random 
assertions.  Mark  our  proofs  and  weigh  them  well.  Read  the  fimous  Broughton's  adver- 
tisement of  Corruption  to  Lords  of  the  Council  in  the  year  1604,  and  recollect  that  he  was 
a  Puritan." 

"  In  the  Hampton  Court  Conference,  pag.  45,  46,  47,  all  the  English  Bibles  are  pronoun- 
ced infamous  translations.  For  the  history  of  these  translations,  we  refer  to  Bishop 
Pretyman." 

"  For  the  corruptions  that  exist  even  in  all  the  late  editions  of  the  English  Protestant 
Bible,  we  refer  to  the  pamphlet  of  Mr.  Curtis  on  this  subject.  As  you  profess  intimacy 
with  the  *  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  and  are  interested  in  the  Protestant 
translations  of  the  Bible,  you,  of  course,  have  seen  the  pamphlet  of  Curtis,  a  dissenting 
minister,  addressed  to  the  present  Protestant  Bishop  of  London.  In  this  pamphlet  Curtis 
states,  as  the  result  of  a  laborious  examination  of  a  great  number  of  Bibles,  that,  in  the 
modern  editions,  he  has  detected  no  less  than  2931  intentional  departures  from  King  Jame'a 
Bible,  in  seven  books,  or  only  a.  fourth  part  of  the  canon  of  the  scriptures  I  On  the  inten- 
tional departures  from  what  is  termed  in  England,  the  authorised  version  of  the  scriptures, 
we  refer  you  to  the  averments  made  by  several  highly  respectable  witnesses  before  the  se- 
lect Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  on  King's  Printers'  Patents.  From  this  examin- 
ation and  the  pamphlet  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Curtis,  you  will  obtain  knowledge  of  which  you  are 
now  ignorant,  though  you  exult  in  your  Protestant  education." 

"  Let  it  suffice  for  the  present,  that  tlie  Pope  is  convinced,  from  the  report  of  the  Bishops 
in  the  countries  where  the  English  language  is  commonly  spoken,  that  the  Doway  transla- 
tion and  tlie  different  editions  of  it,  are  all  free  from  substantial  error.  This  is  all  that  the 
discipline  of  our  church  requires  with  regard  to  the  different  translations  from  the  Vulgate — 
and  it  is  in  virtue  of  this  discipline,  that  Doctor  Power  did  assert,  that  Roman  Catholics 
were  not  prevented  by  their  Pastors  from  reading  the  Bible  in  the  Vulgar  tongue." 

"  A  correct  edition  of  the  fathers,  does  not  exist,  says  Dr.  B. :  for  he  says,  the  monks  of 
the  dark  ages  corrupted  them.  Yet  in  opposition  to  this  positive  assertion,  he  quotes  from 
the  fathers,  corrupted  by  the  monks,  because  he  thinks  it  supports  his  cause !  He  says, 
"produce  a  o^ewwiwe  copy  and  I  will  receive  their  pages  with  profound  veneration!"  Yet, 
to  support  his  rule  of  faith,  and  wanting  an  editio  expurgata,  he  props  his  creed  on  quota- 
tions from  the  Fathers  !  Is  tlierc  in  the  records  of  controversial  history  so  striking  an  ex- 
ample of  inconsistency — such  direct  contradiction?" 

"In  the  seventh  section  of  your  Hydra  Epistle,  you  accuse  us  of  a  '  reckless  disregard  of 
truth,'  for  saying  that  '  no  divine  of  the  church  of  Rome  ever  taught  that  infallibility  was 
lodged  in  the  Pope  alone.'  We  do  not  avoid  the  weight  of  this  assertion.  But  how  do  you 
convict  us  of  falsehood  ?  By  an  argument  at  once  the  most  stupid  and  absurd.  Bellarmine 
is  a  son  of  the   church;   but  Bellarmine  says  that  the   Pope   is  above  a  general  council. 


90  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

Therefore,  Bellarmine  believed  that  infallibility  resides  in  the  Pope  alone.     Now,  Sir,  Bel- 
larmine  believed  that  Christ  was  above  the  Apostles.     Therefore,  according  to  you,  Bellar- 
mine believed  that  infallibility  was  confined  to  Christ  alone,  that  the  Apostles  were  not  in- 
follible.     Dear  Doctor  we  despair  of  ever  making  a  logician  of  you." 
Then  follows  the  often  repeated  quotations  out  of  Hooker,  Field,  &c. 


At  this  stage  of  the  discussion,  serious  difficuhies,  it  was  understood,  had  occurred  among 
the  priests.  Dr.  Varela  had  already  refused  to  go  with  his  associates  :  and  now  Dr.  P.,  it 
was  whispered,  was  dissatisfied.  My  Letter  VIII.  in  reply  to  the  priests'  Letter  VII.,  was, 
by  their  influence,  kept  up,  and  withheld  from  the  public,  for  some  time.  And  it  was  not 
until  they  and  their  editor  were  notified,  that,  unless  they  published  it  forthwith,  it  should 
certainly  appear  in  other  papers,  that  it  was  at  length,  reluctantly  printed.  Meantime  the 
following  reply  was  brought  forward  to  Dr.  Varela's  occasional  Letters. 


TO    THE    REV.    DR.    VARELA. 

"  Magna  est  Veritas,  atque  prsevalebit !" 

Great  is  truth,  and  it  shall  prevail  l—An  old  Protestant  maxim. 

My  Reverend  Friend — I  give  your  great  credit  for  you  honesty  and  taste,  in  not 
permitting  the  priests  to  use  your  name,  in  the  revolting  and  scandalous  letters  which 
they  inflict  on  the  public  feehngs :  their  infidel  assaults  on  the  holy  scriptures ;  and 
their  illiterate  and  rude  taunts  on  "  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Now,  sir,  proceed  a  little  farther,  according  to  the  correct  instinct  of  taste ;  and  re- 
nounce the  vice  of  slandering  the  immortal  authors  of  the  "  ever  blessed  Reformation," 
and  of  perverting  the  pages  of  the  elegant  and  classical  Calvin.  Permit  me  briefly 
to  reply  to  your  two  letters :  and,  here,  let  me  say  that  I  shall  not  follow  you  on  any 
of  the  points  discussed  in  our  regular  series.  I  reserve  your  remarks  on  purgatory 
and  the  mass,  until  I  shall  reach  them  in  proper  order. 

1.  My  friend  Varela  says,  he  produced  a  text  from  St.  Ambrose  to  show  that  he 
taught  the  invocation  of  the  saints.  Now,  I  affirm  that  no  honest  man  can  read  Am- 
brose on  the  first  chapter  of  Romans,  and  then  venture  to  tell  the  public  that  he  ap- 
proved the  invocation  of  saints.  No,  Sir,  you  know,  if  you  have  Ambrose,  that  he 
wrote  against  it  with  great  zeal  and  indignation.  Theodoret  on  Coloss.  2,  and  Am- 
brose on  Rom.  1,  having  stated  the  detestable  origin  of  invoking  Saints,  thus  declare 
against  it: — *'The  heathen  idolaters  to  cover  the  shame  of  neglecting  God,  used  this 
miserable  excuse,  that  by  these  (their  departed  heroes,  daimones)  they  might  go  to 
God;  as  by  officers  we  go  to  a  king."  Now,  Sir,  hear  Ambrose  farther: — "Go  to, 
is  any  man  so  mad,  or  unmindful  of  his  salvation,  as  to  give  the  king's  honor  to  an 
officer?  And  yet  these  idolaters  do  not  think  themselves  to  be  guilty  who  give  the 
honor  of  the  name  of  God  to  a  creature  :  and,  forsaking  the  Lord,  adore  their  fellow 
servants,  as  if  there  were  any  thing  more  that  could  be  reserved  to  God!" — "To 
procure  the  favors  of  God  (from  whom  nothing  is  hid,  he  knows  the  works  of  all  men) 
we  need  no  spokesman,  but  a  devout  mind.  Suffragatore  non  opus  est  &("c." — You 
quote  the  words  of  the  church  of  Smyrna  to  Polycarp,  to  sustain  your  prayers  to 
the  saints, — namely,  "We  adore  God,  we  venerate  the  martyrs."  But  these  words 
condemn  you ;  Protestants  venerate  the  saints ;  you  adore,  or  pray  to  them.     You  even 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  81 

ftiake  Jacob  "  adore  the  top  of  his  staff.''  Sec  Doway  Bible,  Heb.  xi.  21. ;  and  quote 
him  as  an  example  in  j^our  idolatry. 

I  have  thus  convicted  you,  Sir,  of  misrepresentation ;  and  you  owe  a  solemn  apo- 
logy to  St.  Ambrose  the  first  time  you  invoke  him !  You  charge  me  with  misquoting 
St.  Augustine  on  this  same  point;  and  you  profess  to  quote  from  him  the  doctrine  of 
the  invocation  of  saints  and  angels.  In  reply,  I  assert  that  Augustine  every  where 
most  solemnly  and  indignantly  rebukes  the  idolatry  of  invoking  saints,  with  which 
yon  criminate  his  memory !  Just  look  into  his  professions.  Lib.  1  c.  5,  Lib.  x.  c. 
42,  &c.  In  his  book,  De  Quant.  Anim.  c.  34,  he  says: — "In  the  Catholic  Church, 
it  is  divinely  and  singularly  delivered  that  no  creature  is  to  be  worshipped  by  the  soul, 
but  the  Creator  of  all  things  alone."  And,  in  his  book  De  Vera  Relig.  c.  5.5,  he  says : 
♦'  The  adoring  of  men  that  are  dead,  should  be  no  part  of  our  religion ;  because,  if 
they  lived  piously,  they  will  not  seek  that  kind  of  honor;  they  are  to  be  honored  for 
imitation :  not  to  be  adored  for  religion,  or  invoked  in  a  religious  manner."  Now, 
Dr.  Varela,  the  next  time  you  go  to  invoke  your  Saint  Augustine,  I  beg  you,  as  an 
honest  man,  confess  to  him  that  you  have  been  most  greviously  perv^erting  his  writings; 
and  doing  that  wickedness,  which  he  has  solemnly  condemned  and  reprobated!  But, 
you  gave  an  opposite  quotation  from  his  pages.  Here  then  it  is  manifest,  either  that 
St.  Augustine  has  beenaltered  and  mutilated  by  the  monks  of  the  dark  ages,  who  tran- 
scribed his  works :  or  that  this  saint  did  grossly  contradict  himself.  If  so,  then  you 
have  not  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  same  father  with  himself;  far  less  the  unanimous 
consent  of  all  the  fathers  !  Take  it  either  way,  it  is  fatal  to  your  idolatrous  practice  of 
involdng  the  absent  spirits  of  dead  men,  and  dead  women ! ! ! 

2.  1  again  affirm,  Sir,  that  Romish  conversion  is  simply  "  a  reconciliation  to  the 
church.''  Every  one  accustomed  to  the  style  of  Roman  priests  and  writers,  knows  that 
this  is  invariably  the  mode  of  expressing  it.  And  reconciliation  to  the  church,  mean- 
ing a  nominal  union  to  the  Romish  church,  is  the  consummation  of  virtue,  and  th« 
perfection  of  holiness?  And  if  he  only  die  in  the  bosom  of  "Holy  Mother,"  and 
pay  the  church's  dues,  let  his  ignorance  be  ever  so  great ;  or  the  vices  of  his  life,  up 
to  his  dying  hour,  ever  so  many,  he  is  perfectly  safe  !  Here,  as  every  one  sees,  the 
Romish  church  has  assumed  the  very  ground  of  the  Jews,  "We  be  Abraham's 
eeed."  And  because  they  were  his  descendants,  they  held  it  up  as  a  self  evident 
point,  that  God  was  under  an  obligation  to  save  them ! — The  Roman  Mass  is  a  sub- 
stitute  for  the  true  atonement;  and  hence  the  only  ground  of  a  sinner's  hope  by  jus- 
tification and  reconcihation  to  God,  is  wholly  taken  away  !  And  Bellarmine  in  Lib. 
iii.  De  Eccles.  cap.  2  and  7.  has  fairly  and  honestly  expressed  the  opinion  of  all  Ro- 
man catholic  priests  of  our  da}^.  They  do  not  believe  in  the  need  of  a  spiritual 
renovation ;  they  hold  with  unblushing  assurance,  that  there  is  no  need  of  internal 
grace  in  the  members  of  their  church  :  all  they  require  is  only  the  external  rite  and 
public  profession.  And  hence  they  say,  in  the  words  of  Bellarmine,  and  the  Rhem. 
Annot.  on  John  15.  sect.  1.  that  "wicked  men,  and  even  reprobates,  remaining  in 
the  public  profession  of  the  church,  are  true  members  of  the  body  of  Christ!" 

3.  You  follow  the  Romish  church  in  her  singular  zeal  for  image  worship  ;  and 
you  remind  me  of  my  "ignorance  in  this  matter,  and  of  the  confusion  in  my  dates." 
There  is  no  mistake,  my  friend,  in  the  matter.  The  use  and  worship  of  images  in 
the  christian  church  is  a  mere  novelty.  I  stated  that  the  seventh  general  council  held 
in  754,  in  which  were  present  383  Fathers,  did  solemnly  condemn  the  worship 
of  images,    and  their   use   in  churches.     It  is  true,  the   Roman   popes  stood  out 


32  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

as  usual,  for  the  use  and  veneration  of  them.  I  am  well  aware  that  your  churcii 
does  not  acknowledge  this  7th  general  council  of  the  Greek  church.  But  you  hesi- 
tate not  to  admit  the  infamous  decrees  of  the  idolatrous  council  of  Nice,  the  second  of 
that  place.  These  decrees  revived  image  adoration:  and  poured  worse  than  Pagan 
Superstition  over  the  western  church. 

There  are  two  things,  my  good  Sir,  which  have  excited  my  surprise.  Why  did 
you  not  state  that  the  council  of  Frankfort,  consisting  of  300  bishops,  did  in  794, 
unanimously  condemn  the  worship,  and  the  use  of  images,  and  thus  overthrow  your 
wicked  council  of  Nice  ?  But  what  surprises  me  far  more,  my  good  Doctor,  is  this; 
that  you  could,  in  your  conscience,  approve  of  any  decision  of  that  council.  Is  it 
possible  that  you  can  applaud  a  council  summoned  together,  and  guided,  by  the  atro- 
cious Irene,  who  murdered  her  husband,  and  then  usurped  the  imperial  throne  ?  Do 
you,  then,  avow  that  your  images  were  sustained  by  the  council  under  the  dictation 
of  a  bloody  murderer  ?  And  this  is  not  all.  In  the  West,  or  Latin  church,  at  the 
same  time,  the  two  popes,  Gregorys,  kindled  the  flames  of  rebellion,  and  war,  against 
their  lawful  princes ;  and  spread  civil  war  over  Italy  and  the  islands  adjacent.  And 
in  their  horrid  popish  rage  for  image  w^orship  and  superstition,  they  caused  the  death 
of  unnumbered  thousands.  It  was  in  the  eighth  century  that  those  ghostly  barbari- 
ans on  the  pontifical  throne,  spread  ruin  and  havoc,  far  and  wide.  And  your  fellovr 
priests  and  you  cease  not  to  applaud  these  bloody  idolaters  ! 

4.  You  complain  that  I  did  not  truly  represent  your  church's  doctrines  on  grace. 
And  "you  produced  a  text  out  of  the  council  of  Trent"  which,  you  say,  removes  all 
doubt  of  its  being  a  calumny,  that  "the  catholic  church  denies  the  work  of  grace: 
and  holds  that  the  sinner  is  saved  purely  by  human  merit."  That  text  I  find  in  the 
decrees  of  the  council  of  Trent.  But,  though  pained  to  hurt  your  feelings,  I  am  con- 
strained to  tell  you,  that  you  have  made  a  scandalous  misquotation  which  perverts 
the  sense  of  these  fathers. 

Here  is  your  quotation :— "  Eternal  life  must  be  preached  as  a  grace  mercifully 
promised  to  the  children  of  God."  This  is  very  sound  Protestantism.  But  it  is  mere 
manghng  of  the  whole  sentence  :  the  whole  of  it,  is  as  follows :— "  Atque  ideo  &c. 
And  therefore  to  these  who  work  well,  and  (persevere  to  the  end,  and  hope  in  God, 
eternal  life  is  to  be  proposed,  (proponenda)  both  as  a  grace  mercifully  promised  to  the 
children  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ,  and,  also,  as  the  reward  to  be  faithfully  ren- 
dered by  the  promise  of  himself,  to  their  good  works  and  merit." 

Your  whole  quotation,  in  the  Truth  Teller  p.  207.  Col.  1.  is  given  as  if  one  conti- 
nuous sentence ;  whereas  it  is  composed  of  four  garbled  extracts !  Your  second  clause 
fetands  thus  . — 

"Jesus  Christ  communicates  virtue  to  those  who  are  justified,  the  same  as  the 
head  does  to  the  members,  or  the  vine  to  the  branches,  which  virtue  always  ante- 
cedes,  accompanies,  and  is  subsequent  to  the  good  works,  and  without  it  they  could 
not  be  by  any  means  meritorious." 

This  you  give  as  the  entire  sentence ;  whereas  you  stop  in  the  very  middle  of  it. 
The  rest  of  the  passage  stands  thus :— "  it  must  be  believed  that  the  justified  are  in  no 
respect  deficient ;  but  that  they  may  be  considered  as  fully  satisfying  the  divine  law 
(for  the  state  of  this  life,)  by  their  own  good  works,  which  are  wrought  in  God ;  and 
as  meriting  eternal  Hfe  to  be  obtained,  in  due  time,  if  they  die  in  a  state  of  grace." 

In  this  manner,  Dr.  Varela,  you  go  on  mangling  the  poor  Tridentine  Fathers  in  a 
merciless  way.   See  C.  Trent,  S.  6.  cap.  16  and  Cramp's  Text  Book  p.  p.  104  &  412. 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST.  83 

The  real  doctrines  issued  by  the  authority  of  these  Fathers,  and  held  by  all  ortho- 
dox Roman  catholics,  are  these  ;  that  good  works  done  before  conversion,  have  a 
merit  dc  congruo  :  that  is,  they  merit  a  divine  reward  from  a  principle  of  congruity, 
or  fitness,  and  the  free  bounty  of  God  :  and  good  works  done  after  justification,  do 
truly  and  properly  merit  eternal  hfe.  And  thus  they  overturn  the  doctrines  of  the 
free  grace  of  God ;  and  the  special  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

5.  You  challenge  me  to  produce  a  single  Roman  catholic  divine  who  has  claimed 
for  the  pope,  or  the  church,  the  power  of  appointing  new  articles  of  faith.  Have  you 
forgotten,  Sir,  the  words  of  Bellarmine  and  others,  who  constitute  the  pope  a  "  God 
upon  earth  :"  and  the  pater  familias  of  the  church,  having  the  titles,  and  the  place  of 
Christ  in  it?  Can  you  be  ignorant  that  Pope  Innocent  HI.,  during  the  session  of  the 
4th  council  of  the  Lateran,  did,  without  consulting  any  body,  publish  and  enact  no 
less  than  seventy  laws,  or  decrees,  by  which  he  not  only  established  the  power  of  the 
popes  and  clergy,  but  also  imposed  "new  doctrines,  or  articles  of  faith,  on  the  christ- 
ian church."  See  Mosh.  ii.  ch.  3,  p.  2,  and  Daille  on  Confession.  Will  you  deny 
that  the  Trentine  council  added  twelve  articles  to  the  church's  creed  ?  And  can  you 
seriously  dispute,  that  Leo  X.  condemned  this  among  the  forty-one  tenets  of  Luther, 
^^that  the  yope,  or  church  had  no  power  to  establish  articles  of  faith.'"  And  here,  Sir, 
are  the  words  of  the  bull  which  you  challenge  me  to  produce  "  Certum  est  in  manu 
Ecclesias,  et  papa,  prorsus  non  esse  statuere  articulas  fidei,  imo  nee  leges  morum,  seu 
bonorum  operum."  That  is,  "It  is  certain  that  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  church 
or  of  the  pope  to  constitute  or  determine  articles  of  faith,  nor  even  laws  of  morals,  or 
good  works."  This  is  Luther's  tenet  which  this  pope  condemned.  And  the  Rhemist 
Annotators  speak  strongly  on  the  point:  "We  must  believe  the  church  of  Rome  and 
trust  her  in  all  things."  On  1  Tim.  iii.  sect.  9:  Again,  "we  ought  to  take  our  faith 
and  all  things  necessary  to  salvation  from  the  hands  of  our  superiors."  On  Acts  x. 
sect.  8.  And  finally,  see  the  bull  of  Leo  X.  added  to  the  last  council  in  the  Lateran: 
"Ad  solam,  &c.  To  the  sole  authority  of  the  pope  does  it  belong  to  give  a  new  edi- 
tion of  the  creed;  or  a  new  giving  out  of  the  creed  belong  to  him  solely."  And  to 
crown  the  whole,  see  Corpus  Juris  Canon.  Dist.  40.  and  the  following  declaration  in 
Dist.  xix.  cap.  6.  "  Inter  Canonicas  &c.  Among  the  canonical  scriptures  the 
(pope's)  decretal  epistles  are  to  be  numbered."  These  need  no  comment.  Here  is 
evidence  of  the  highest  order, — namely,  your  own  books ! 

6.  You  write.  Sir,  with  an  amazing  degree  of  non  chalance,  about  your  admitting 
seven  sacraments  ;  and  of  our  admitting  two,  as  if  your  will,  and  mine,  by  a  mere 
choice,  were  left  to  settle  this.  Nay,  by  way  of  a  most  ludicrous  blunder,  you 
add  :  "  If  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  the  Presbyterian  church  admits  of  only  one 
proper  sacrament !"  How  so, — why,  say  you,  "  because  they  make  it  only  an 
ordinance !"  What  naivete  in  this  blunder  of  the  true  sons  of  Loyola  !  They  are  so 
accustomed  to  receive  the  laws,  ordinances,  and  rites  simply  from  "the  Lord  God,  the 
pope," — that  they  really  do  not  know  this  elementary  truth,  that  the  true  church — that 
is  the  Protestant  church,  receives  it  as  an  undoubted  article  of  her  faith,  that  Christ, 
her  only  King  and  Head,  ordains  all  the  institutions  of  his  house:  that  the  pope, 
and  he  of  the  Koran,  have  no  more  power  and  authority  to  institute  a  new  statute  or 
rite,  in  his  church,  than  to  add  a  new  world  to  his  dominions !  Hence  he  has  made, 
fixed,  and  pronounced  in  the  New  Testament,  every  law,  and  every  ordinance,  which 
the  church  is  ever  to  enjoy.  And  from  this  divine  institution,  we  call  the  holy  supper, 
and  baptism,  ordinances.     Our  Romish  priests  have  no  idea  of  this;  for  the  pope  is 


QA  rOMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

Boul,  conscience,  heart,  law,  and  gospel  to  them '  While  the  christian  looks  up  to  hi4 
God  and  King  in  heaven ;  the  romanists  lift  their  eyes  over  the  hills  and  seas,  %o 
Rome  !  My  dear  sir,  they  take  no  pains  to  spare  the  priestly  character :  they  heap 
proof  upon  proof  that  they  linger  a  thousand  years  behind  the  light  of  God's  holy 
gospel,  in  the  darkness  of  the  darkest  ages  ! 

7.  I  will  once  more  answer  the  often  repeated  question  respecting  divisions  exist- 
ing in  the  Protestant  world,  and  their  causes,  whenever  you  will  have  the  goodness 
to  answer  frankly,  the  following  queries  :— 

jPirsf__What  is  the  reason  why  two  equally  learned  lawyers  will  differ  on  a  plain 
point  of  law  ?  Or,  why  do  you,  and  Dr.  Power,  and  Mr.  Levins  so  far  differ  that  your 
taste  and  delicacy  will  not  permit  you  to  lend  your  name  to  their  rude  and  blasphe- 
mous Letters  ? 

5econtZ— What  has  caused  the  endless  divisions  in  Holy  Mother's  bosom  ?"  Your 
*'  infallible  rule,"  which  as  certainly  fell  down  from  heaven,  as  did  the  image  of  Diana 
from  Jupiter,  is  firmly  believed  by  all  the  different  sects  in  your  church.  Now,  why 
do  the  Jesuits  and  Jansenists  differ,  and  persecute  each  other?  Why  do  the  Francis- 
cans and  Dominicans  differ,  and  quarrel,  beyond  the  powers  of  the  pope  and  the  church 
herself  to  unite  them  ?  Why  did  you  and  your  bishop  quarrel  with  the  priest  of 
Brooklyn?     Had  he  no  "infallible  rule  of  Holy  Mother,"  to  guide  him,  as  well  a« 

you? 

Third Wliether  your  superior  education  enables  you  to  apprehend  the  distinction 

between  subjective  infallibility,  and  objective  infallibility  ?  Your  colleagues  in  their 
Letters  to  me,  ventured  on  the  attempt :  but  it  proved  a  complete  abortion !  And  in 
order  to  cover  their  retreat,  and  throw,  at  least,  something  hke  a  veil  over  invincible 
ignorance,  they  actually  turned  into  ridicule,  the  plain  and  logical  distinction  of  objec- 
tive and  subjective  infallibility ! 

W^e  cease,  however,  to  wonder  at  any  thing.  The  state  of  education  among  Romish 
priests  is  deplorable.  Hebrew  and  Greek,  with  Biblical  criticism  form  no  part  of 
their  training  !  Why,  some  of  them  conceive  the  Latin  Vulgate  to  be  really  the  ori- 
ginal language  of  the  Bible,  given  by  inspiration.  Others  seem  equally  as  igno- 
rant as  the  Romish  Archbishop  of  a  town  in  Italy,  in  the  dark  ages,  who  happening  to 
find  a  Bible  in  some  old  box  in  the  library ;  exclaimed  upon  reading  it, — "  /  have  found 
a  singular  old  book  here  :  I  know  not  what  it  is,  but  one  thing  I  see,  it  makes  entirely 
against  ms/"  They  imagine  that  if  there  be  any  "original"  of  the  Holy  Spirit's 
inspiration,  it  must  be  the  old  Irish  to>'gue  !  For,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  say  they, 
that  the  prophets  and  apostles  lived  in  old  Ireland,  and  wrote  the  scriptures  there ! ! 
Hence  these  furious  taunts  flung  at  "  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
The  author  of  them  exhibits  a  bummg  zeal  in  support  of  this  Milesian  theor^^  at  all 
risks,  and  hazard  of  character  ! 

But,  Sir,  your  better  education  must  enable  you  to  apprehend  the  difference  between 
subjective  and  objective,  as  applied  to  this  point  in  theology.  There  is  an  infallibility 
objective,  in  our  Protestant  rule;  because  God  speaks  to  us  infallibly  in  the  Bible. 
But  the  subjects  on  which  this  rule  is  brought  to  operate,  namely,  men,  are  not  infal- 
lible. Hence,  there  is  no  subjective  infallibility.  That  is,  the  infalHble  rule  of  God, 
does  not  make  men,  personally,  infallible.  Hence  it  is  easy  to  see  that  under  the 
best  and  most  divine  rule,  men  will  err  ;  and  hence,  they  will  differ.  The  fault  is  in 
men  obviously,  not  in  God's  word ! 

8,  When  grave  and  solemn  charges  are  brought  against  the  pope,  and  Holy  Mo- 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  85 

ther's  priesthood,  and  their  spiritual  and  moral  character  is  thence  annihilated  :  and 
when  these  charges  are  fully  proved  out  of  your  own  writers,  such  as  Baronius,  Pla- 
tina,  and  Clemangis,  how  have  you  replied  ?  Why,  by  throwing  the  oblivion  of  si- 
lence over  it :  or  by  a  quotation  from  Roscoe  containing  an  eulogium  on  two  or  three 
tolerably  decent  popes  !  And  this  done,  you  thence  piously  infer,  that  because  a  few 
were  decent,  and  rather  more  moral  than  others,  therefore  they  were  all  good  popes, 
and  the  perfect  rule  and  judge  of  all  truth,  human  and  divine !  This  is  a  fair  speci- 
men of  the  precious  "dialectics,  and  logic"  of  our  priests  ! 

You  had,  in  reserve,  another  characteristic  mode  of  replying  to  our  charge  of  infi- 
delity and  profligacy  made  against  popes  and  priests.  The  Reformers  have  been,  you 
say,  the  worst,  and  most  execrable  of  men ;  "  Luther  was  a  pupil  of  the  Devil ;" 
and,  "  therefore,  our  wicked  Popes  were  angels,  and  our  polluted  Priests,  chaste 
saints!" 

Now,  admitting  that  you  could  induce  yourselves  to  believe  the  Reformers  to  be  as 
bad  as  demons,  that  does  not  touch  the  question.  We  never  constituted  one  of  these 
men, — not  even  Paul,  or  Peter,  the  living  rule  and  judge  !  We  repeat  it,  the  bible  is 

OUR  ONLY  RULE,  AND  GOD  SPEAKING  IN  IT,  IS  THE  INFALLIBLE  JUDGE. But  yoU 

declare  the  pope,  or  the  church,  made  up  of  these  base  and  profligate  men,  to  be  the 
living  speaking  oracle,  and  judge  !  Hence,  when  we  adduced  evidence  that  the 
popes,  as  your  Father  Paul  says  of  the  Trent  Fathers,  were — "  A  camp  of  incarnate 
demons,"  and  your  priests,  by  your  own  witnesses,  a  race  of  polluted,  sensual  men 
wallowing  in  vices, — we  did,  thereby,  annihilate,  utterly,  and  for  ever,  your  Roman 
catholic  rule  of  faith ! !     It  died  by  the  virulence  of  its  own  corruption ! 

Come,  now.  Father  Varela,  open  your  eyes  in  candor;  read  God's  holy  word; 
retract  your  errors;  embrace  the  truth;  come  over  to  the  fold  of  the  only  true  Shep- 
herd, our  Lord  Jesus;  and  I  wdll  greet  you,  in  Christ. 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

W.  C.  Brownlee. 

P.  S.  Since  writing  the  above,  I  perceive  that  you  have  charged  me  with  piiblish- 
ing  a  falsehood,  in  as  much  as  I  athrmed  that  the  Trentine  Fathers  adJedtivelve  arti- 
cles to  the  creed. 

The  Trentine  Fathers  did  this  by  their  agent,  Pope  Pius  IV.  to  whom  they  left  the 
matter  merely  :  as  the  echo  of  that  council  and  its  head,  he  published  the  creed.  By 
him  acting  in  its  name  were  the  addhional  articles  added.  I  have  made  one  mistake 
which  I  hasten  to  rectify.  Instead  of  twelve,  he  added  fourteen  new  articles  to  the 
creed  !  And  I  challenge  Dr.  Varela  and  all  the  priests  to  deny  it !  Let  any  one  take 
up  Cramp's  Text  Book:  let  him  look  into  pope  Pius  IV.'s  creed,  in  Cramp,  p.  450: 
there  he  will  see  the  original  Latin  copy:  and  in  p.  387,  he  will  see  the  translation. 
First,  you  have  the  creed,  and  then  attached  to  that,  fourteen  new  articles,  unknown 
to  the  Apostles,  and  unknown  to  the  church  of  Christ  in  the  first  six  centuries. 

Sir,  I  have  here  established  another  proof,  that  our  Jesuit  priests  will  deny  any 
thing,  and  will  assert  any  thing,  even  with  the  most  glaring  evidence  to  the  contrary, 
before  their  eyes !  I  can  assign  no  other  reason  than  this  :  they  set  Protestants  at  defi- 
ance ;  their  unlettered  votaries,  they  know,  have  no  access  to  these  documents,  in  our 
hands,  and  in  the  priests'  hands.  And  they  are  satisfied  that  their  victims  will  take 
the  priests'  word  against  all  the  evidence  that  truth  can  pour  forth.  Their  simple 
votaries  have  been  volunteers  in  self  immolation,  and  have  always  believed  by  proxy. 

W.  C.  B. 
9 


86  KOMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 


A    CARD. — TO    THE   PUBLIC. 


The  subscriber  owes  it  to  the  pubhc  respectfully  to  state,  that  the  following  Lett€f 
was  kept  back  by  the  Roman  catholic  paper,  a  whole  week,  without  any  reason,  or 
excuse  being  offered.  And  he  also  owes  it  to  himself  to  state  farther,  to  all  who  read 
the  Roman  catholic  paper,  that,  after  it  was  at  length  given,  it  appeared  in  its  col- 
umns, so  deformed  and  mangled,  by  the  omission  of  lines  and  words,  and  by  error* 
of  the  grossest  nature,  that  it  is  next  to  being  unintelligible. 

He  takes  this  occasion  also  to  state,  that  that  catholic  paper  has  from  time  to  time, 
admitted  the  most  indecent  and  outrageous  attacks  on  Protestant  ladies,  whom  the 
priest  Mr.  Thomas  C.  Levins  has  seen  fit  to  drag  into  the  present  controversy  ;  and 
yet  the  editor  has  been  induced  to  refuse  positively  to  admit  a  reply  from  the  subscri- 
ber, or  from  ladies,  to  these  personal  outrages  ! 

The  little  book  "  Lorette,  or  the  history  of  the  daughter  of  a  Canadian  nun,''''  which 
has  stung  the  priests'  conscience,  and  inflicted  such  acute  pain, — was  submitted  to 
none  of  my  parishioners.  No  one  of  the  ladies  of  the  Middle,  and  North  Dutch 
churches  ever  saw,  or  even  heard  of  it,  while  in  manuscript.  I  repeat  it  distinctly, — 
no  one  of  them  was  of  tlie  number  of  those  judicious  and  virtuous  mothers  of  fami- 
lies, who  took  the  trouble  of  reading  and  recommending  it.  Tkese  were  all  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  exclusively.  This  I  made  known,  confidentially,  to  the  priest. 
Yet,  in  violation  of  all  the  decencies  and  courtesies  of  life,  the  priest  Mr.  Thomas  C. 
Levins,  has  dragged  in  the  ladies  of  the  Middle  Dutch  church  into  this  controversy  : 
and  he  still  continues,  under  his  own  signature,  and  the  shocking  vulgarities  of 
"  Fergus  McAlpine,"  published  weekly  in  the  popish  newspaper,  in  violation  of  every 
principle  of  honor, — to  offer  insults  to  ladies  who  move  in  the  first  circles  of  New 
York ! 

I  deem  it,  therefore,  my  duty  to  hold  up  this  Romish  priest,  before  the  fathers,  hus- 
bands, and  brothers  of  those  ladies, — as  the  rude  violator  of  the  decencies,  and  com- 
mon courtesies  of  society : — as  one  who  has  insulted  ladies  in  language,  and  terms 
which  can  proceed  from  no  christian,  or  gentleman  !  As  one  who  has  added  coward- 
ice to  these  unmanly  insults,  by  employing  his  priestly  influence  to  prevent  all  re- 
plies, and  exposures  from  appearing  in  those  columns,  where  he  publishes  his  outrage- 
ous attacks ! 

The  subscriber  begs  leave  to  make  an  appeal  to  every  gentleman,  and  every  lady 
in  our  community,  whether  this  repeated  insolence  to  ladies,  on  the  part  of  a  Romish 
priest,  is  to  be  tolerated.  He  can  have  no  objection  that  Mr.  Levitis  should  heap  on 
his  head  his  unmeasured  abuses,  and  sacerdotal  vituperations.  The  subscriber  is  his 
public  and  avowed  theological  opponent ;  and  he  is  prepared  for  it.  For  it  is  just  a« 
natural  for  a  priest  of  Roman  faith  to  persecute  those,  whom,  in  his  vulgar  and  illibe- 
ral views,  he  is  pleased  to  call  "  heretics  ;"  as  it  is  for  him  to  breathe !  But,  then, 
let  him  confine  the  outpourings  of  the  vials  of  his  ghostly  wrath,  to  those,  exclusively, 
who  war  against  his  impieties  ;  and  not,  with  the  graceless  coward,  insult  ladies,  and 
those  who  never  entered  the  lists  with  him !  None  but  the  rudest  being,  that  ever 
was  trained  up  in  all  the  heartlessness  of  Jesuitism,  and  monastic  celibacy,  which 
paralyzes  every  noble,  and  virtuous,  and  holy  feeling  of  the  human  soul, — can  per- 
mit himself  to  insult  ladies  !  And  when,  in  the  calamitous  events  of  providence,  such 
outlaws  intrude  themselves  on  virtuous  and  polished  society,  and  rudely  violate  social 
courtesies, — then,  every  gentleman,  and,  most  especially,  every  young  man,  is  bound, 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  87 

promptly  to  show  that  there  are  husbands,  and  fatliers,  and  brothers  to  defend  their 
wives,  their  daughters,  and  sisters,  against  such  brutal  assauks  of  priests ! 

I  am,  most  respectfully,  &c. 
W.  C.  Brownlee. 
May  14,  1833. 


LETTER  VIII. 

TO    DRS.    POWER   AND    VARELA,    AND    MR.    LEVINS. 

"  Upon  this  rock  will  I  build  my  church !" — Jesus  Christ. 

**  And  that  rock  was  Christ." — St.  Paul. 

"  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay,  than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ." 

Gentlemen : — Your  seventh  letter  I  have  carefully  perused.  You  would  have  saved 
trouble,  and  been  as  near  your  object,  had  you  reprinted  the  sixth  against  me,  in. 
reply.  You  have  offered,  in  both,  much  incense  to  the  spirit  of  error  and  heresy.  I 
fear  he  is  the  presiding  genius  over  all  your  nocturnal  orgies  and  lucubrations.  You 
have  renewed  your  crusade  against  the  holy  Bible ;  but  without  advancing  one  single 
new  idea ;  or  even  one  semblance  of  a  fresh  argument  on  the  point.  My  ten  argu- 
ments against  your  rule,  by  which  I  trust,  it  has  been  logically  demolished  and  anni- 
hilated,— have  been  passed  over,  unnoticed  by  you.  And,  gentlemen,  whatever  attri- 
butes your  enemies  deny  you,  I  shall  maintain  that  in  this  silence,  you  possess  both 
wisdom  and  cunning.  We  have  also  fully  established  the  evidence  of  the  holy  scrip- 
tures, by  the  usual  arguments  and  proofs,  briefly  given,  from  internal  and  from  exter- 
nal evidence;  from  miracles,  prophecy,  and  historical  evidence  or  tradition.  And  I 
trust,  I  have  fully  exposed  your  besetting  sins  touching  tradition.  It  is  truly  ludi- 
crous to  see  grave  and  professedly  learned  men  insisting  on  it,  forever,  that  tradition 
alone  is  all  the  evidence  of  the  Bible's  inspiration  ;  and  that  tradition  belongs  solely 
and  exclusively,  to  "  Holy  Mother"  of  Rome,  verily!  You  repeat  here,  again,  with 
solemn  trifling,  all  your  deism  and  twaddle  in  this  matter,  which  had  been  refuted, 
and  exposed,  and  logically  put  to  rest.  The  only  thing  that  seems  to  be  novel  is  this : 
you  have  fallen,  like  theological  sophomores,  into  the  silly  error  of  confounding  the 
act  of  faith  in  the  external  evidence  of  the  holy  Bible,  with  the  act  of  faith  in  our 
Lord,  speaking  in  the  Bible.  By  the  former,  we  are  assured  that  the  Bible  came 
from  God — by  the  latter  we  do  believe  in  Christ,  speaking  in  the  Bible,  and  through 
that  faith,  are  justified  from  guilt  before  God.  Now  my  profound  opponents  cannot 
comprehend  the  dislinction !  And  what  is  more,  no  papist  ever  can.  For  he 
believes  in  the  "church,  namely  Holy  Mother."  And  by  that  faith  is  he  saved. 
This,  gravely,  is  their  avowed  sense  of  that  sentence  in  the  creed — "  I  believe  in  the 
catholic  Church"  ! ! ! 

1.  My  exposure  of  your  Vulgate  Bible  has,  I  see,  taken  efTect:  it  has  stung  the  priest's 
Conscience  !  And  you  cannot  conceal  how  much  you  writhe  under  it.  No  wonder  : 
Magna  est  Veritas,  atque  prasvalebit ! — But  you  have  not  exainined,  far  less  refuted 
one  of  my  statements.  And  I  compliment  you  again  on  your  wisdom  in  not  touch- 
ing them.  Every  Jesuit  is  a  spiritual  man  of  war,  from  his  youth  up.  And  in  your 
tactics  Holy  Mother  enforces  no  rule  more  anxiously  than  this  : — ivhenever  yowr 
opponent  advances  an  argument  which  you  cannot  answer — take  special  care  not  to 
touch  iV! 


88  ROMAN  CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST* 

The  strongest  thing  you  have  said  here,  in  reply  to  my  exposure  of  your  Vulgat^f 
is  this  :  "  Your  attack  on  it,  you  have  borrowed  from  Pope's  discussion  with  M'Guire<. 
&.C."  My  good  ])adres,  I  did  not  know  it :  for,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  that  I  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  add  that  book  to  my  list.  I  have  never  seen  it.  *  But,  gentlemen,  you 
must  have  seen  that  I  copied  my  authorities  from  the  fountain  head, — such  as  Nolan, 
Home,  Willet,  Father  Paul  Sarpi,  Pallavicini,  and  the  collections  of  Cramp.  And, 
gentlemen,  if,  as  you  say,  Pope  was  so  ill  informed  on  the  subject,  as  not  to  be  abio 
to  silence  M'Guire  promptly  on  this  point,  by  an  exhibition  of  the  endless  errors,  varia- 
tions, and  contradictions  existing  between  the  Sixtine,  and  the  Clementine  editions  of 
the  Vulgate,  he  was  very  ill  qualified  for  his  duty.  Every  scholar  knows  that  Dr. 
James,  in  his  Bellum  Papale,  has  pointed  out  two  thousand  variations  between  these 
two  papal  editions.  And  any  one  by  taking  up  Home,  vol.  ii.  p.  200,  201,  can  see  a 
specimen  of  these  errors,  omissions,  additions,  and  contradictions.  I  mention  Home, 
because  he  is  in  every  minister's  library.  And  I  again  refresh  you  with  Reuchline  and 
Jerome's  words, — "  the  Hebrews  drink  of  the  wellhead  ;  the  Greeks  of  the  stream  ; 
and  the  Latins  of  the  puddle !"  And,  at  the  same  time,  I  renew  my  public  challenge  to 
you  to  tell  the  public,  to  which  of  these  erroneous  and  contradictory  editions  of  your 
Vulgate,  from  the  hands  of  these  two  equally  infallible  and  contradictory  popes,  you 
give  in  the  adhesion  of  your  flexible  faith  and  conscience. 

2.  I  also  beg  leave  to  renew  my  demand  of  an  answer  to  the  question  in  my  last, 
and  which  you  have  shunned.  You  have  always  averred,  and  can  we  doubt  your 
honor,  that  you  insist  that  your  laity  read  the  holy  Bible  ?  Even  your  pope,  you  said, 
approves  of  your  Douay  !  Now,  we  demand  of  you  to  tell  us  if  there  be  one  English 
version  of  the  Bible  authorised  by  either  the  pope  or  the  church  !  We  say  there  is  not 
one  authorised  version  in  our  language  !  Will  you  venture,  Sirs,  to  contradict  it  ?  I 
possess  evidence ;  namely,  the  testimony  upon  oath,  of  some  of  your  first  men  in  Ire- 
land, given  in  before  the  British  parliament,  to  confirm  what  I  say! 

3.  You  are  involved  in  a  difficulty,  realh'  inextricable,  from  my  quotations  from 
the  Greek  and  Latin  fathers.  And  1  am  anxious  to  show  how  great  this  dilficulty  is. 
There  is  no  contradiction  as  you  affect  to  say,  between  my  Letters  L  and  VH.  You 
know  as  well  as  I  do,  that  the  fathers  have  been  altered,  mangled,  and  corrupted  in 
many  parts.  But  providence  so  ordered  it,  that  these  knavish  monks  who  corrupted 
many  parts  of  them,  did  not  succeed  in  corrupting  all  of  them ;  or  all  parts  of  each  of 
them.  Hence  the  many  glaring  contradictions  on  their  pages.  Now,  take  it  which 
way  you  please,  gentlemen,  the  quotations  from  the  fathers  are  absolutely  fatal  to 
your  sinking  cause.  It  is  an  immutable  doctrine  of  your  church,  that  no  rite,  nor 
doctrine  is  from  God,  unless  it  have  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  fathers.  Hence  it  is 
utter  folly  in  you,  gentlemen,  to  do  as  padre  Levins  has  done ;  namely,  to  quote  a 
sentence  or  two.  This  will  never  do.  You  must  have  their  unanimous  consent.  If 
I  do  produce,  as  you  know  I  have  done,  a  sentence  from  these,  contradicting  yours,  it 
is  of  no  consequence  to  our  Protestant  cause,  which  of  us  is  right.  It  is  enough  for  me 
that  I  destroy  your  unanimous  consent.  I  beg  my  readers  to  remember  this  important 
maxim.  It  is  to  administer  glorious  service  to  us  in  our  future  discusions  of  the  Ro- 
mish doctrines  and  ceremonies. 


*  This  statement  brought  me  in  no  less  than  fM?o  copies  in  one  day:  and  one  of  them,  I 
wish  to  be  grateful  in  saying  it,  was  from  a  R.  C.  Priest !  Here  let  me  add,  that  so  deep 
and  solemn  was  the  sympathy  of  the  protestant  public,  that  books  were  sent  in  to  me  from 
persons  of  every  sect  and  denomination,  many  of  which  generous  friends,  I  never  saw, 
nor  heard  of,  before. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  89 

4.  You  call  Protestants  "  the  children  of  the  Bible."  We  are  grateful  for  this  honor 
■wrung  from  such  lips.  Truth  is  rare  and  valuable  like  gold ;  especially  when  it 
comes  in  small  graiijs  amid  mountains  of  falsehood.  But  you  venture  to  say  that  we 
have  •'  the  most  abominahlif  corrupt  Bible  that  ever  appeared."  You  add  :  "  Mark  our 
proofs  and  weigh  tliem  well:  read  Broughton's  advertisement  of  corruption,  to  the 
lords  of  council  in  1604." 

Our  priests  arc  as  defective  in  historical  education,  as  they  are  in  biblical  criti- 
cism. Is  it  not  astonishing  that  a  priest,  or  any  school  boy,  should  really  not  know 
that  our  translation  now  in  use,  was  not  in  existence  in  1604  ?  It  was  not  finished 
until  the  year  1611  ?  Our  priests  are  absolutely  so  illiterate  that  they  do  not  know 
that  they  are  charging  on  our  present,  and  admirable  translation,  the  errors  that 
existed  in  preceding  translations  ! 

They  commit  a  similar  blunder  when  they  say  that,  "  in  the  Hampton  conference 
all  the  English  Bibles  were  pronounced  infamous  translations."  Is  it  credible  that 
priests  should  be  so  utterly  ignorant  of  familiar  historical  facts  ?  Our  version,  now  ha 
general  use,  was  made  after  the  Hampton  conference ;  and  in  consequence  of  the 
learned  puritans  requesting  King  James  to  select  able  men  to  give  an  accurate  trans- 
lation.    See  Neal's  Hist,  of  the  Puritans,  ii.  ch.  2.     Home's  Introd.  vol.  ii.  p.  249, 

5.  And  as  our  priests  appeal  to  Walton  and  others,  as  favoring  their  sentiments,  re- 
lative to  the  Douay,  and  to  our  version,  the  public  can  conceive  what  reliance  is  to  be 
placed  on  the  faith  and  quotations  of  the  priests,  from  the  following  criticism  of  Walton : 
"  The  last  English  translation  of  the  Bible,  made  by  divers  learned  men,  at  the  com- 
mand of  King  James,  may  jusily  contend  with  any  now  extant,  in  any  language  of 
Europe."  And  the  learned  Selden,  a  better  judge  than  the  pope,  and  his  millions  of 
priests  combined,  calls  it  " the  best  translation  in  the  world!"  And  omitting  other 
equally  great  judges,  your  own  Geddes,  a  Socinian  Roman  Catholic  priest,  speaks  of 
it  thus:  "If  accuracy,  fidelity,  and  the  strictest  attention  to  the  letter  of  the  text,  do 
constitute  the  qualities  of  an  excellent  version,  this,  of  all  versions,  must,  in  general, 
be  accounted  the  most  excellent  ! 

6.  You  have  not  given  a  fair  exhibition  of  Bellannine's  views  of  papal  infallibility. 
He  and  these  of  his  sect  in  the  Romish  church,  do  actually  place  it  in  the  pope  alone. 
I  quoted  him  and  the  canon  law.  These  exhibit  the  pope  as  absolute :  "  a  god  on 
earth,"  in  the  place  of  Christ,  "  loco  Christi :"  and  accountable  to  no  council;  doing 
on  earth  what  he  pleases,  even  as  God  does  in  heaven !  Hence  they  make  him  the 
sole  depository  and  fountain  of  infallibility !  You  simply  deny  that  any  son  of  "  Holy 
Mother"  ever  held  such  sentiments,  and  get  rid  of  my  quotations  by  misstatement, 
and  mysticism.  I  need  scarcely  add  that  those  who  lock  into  Bellarmine  and  the 
canon  law,  will  perceive  that  you  are  either  by  design,  or  accident,  absolutely  ignor- 
ant of  your  own  standard  papal  writers  ! 

Finally — There  is  one  other  point  on  which  I  find  something  apparently  new.  In 
a  fresh  and  most  unchristian  ebullition  against  the  holy  scriptures,  you  quote  Dr. 
Curtis's  pamphlet  in  which  he  numbers  no  than  2931  intentional  departures  from  the 
received  version  of  our  English  Bible  ;  that  is,  he  imdertakes  to  show  that,  in  the 
printing,  all  these  errors  have  been  introduced.  And  in  this  detection,  our  reverend 
christian  priests  exult,  and  leap  for  joy,  as  if  they  and  their  agrarian  auxiliaries  had 
actually  made  a  breach  in  the  walls  of  Zion  ! ! 

I  have  convicted  my  opponents  of  Deism  :  and  I  have  evidence  that  every  think- 
ing christian  Ln  the  community  is  fully  and  painfully  satisfied  with  the  evidence, 

9* 


90  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

And  to  establish  this  fact  was  in  indeed  my  main  reason  for  lingering  so  long  on  the 
rule.  We  have  succeeded  in  dragging  out  this  lurking  Antichrist  from  his  deceptions 
den  ;  and  we  have  branded  on  his  forehead  a  mark  and  a  name  which  all  his  holy 
water  can  never  wash  out — namely  :  "  This  is  the  father  and  prince  of  Deism !" 

And  as  if  they  were  resolved,  unblushingly,  to  wear  the  mark  and  the  name,  the 
priests  have  made  this  new  assault,  through  the  aid  of  Dr.  Curtis,  against  the  holy 
scriptures.  Now,  mark  the  proofs  of  their  dishonesty  in  this  matter.  When  we 
remember  the  source  whence  our  priests  got  their  information  of  Dr.  Curtis'  re- 
searches, it  was  morally  impossible  for  them  not  to  know  that  the  profound  scholar. 
Dr.  Cardwell,  of  Oxford  University,  has  entered  the  lists  against  him,  has  overthrown 
him,  and  exposed  his  errors  completely.  I  shall  edify  my  honest  and  accurate 
opponents,  by  quoting  a  little  specimen  of  this  exposure.  In  the  book  of  Genesis, 
Br.  Curtis  musters  the  formidable  array  of  eight  hundred  and  seven  variations,  and  in 
(he  gospel  of  Matthew,  no  less  than  four  hundred  and  sixteen !  This,  to  you  and 
every  infidel,  is  a  very  refreshing  and  comfortable  discovery.  But  pause  a  little. 
Our  champion,  Dr.  Cardwell,  goes  over  the  same  ground,  collates  the  various  copies, 
and  shows  triumphantly  that  in  Genesis  there  are  onl}^  nine  variations  ;  and  in  Mat- 
thew onh^  eleve?i !  And  these  affect  not  the  sense ;  nor  trench  on  doctrine !  If  a 
Jesuit  could  be  brought,  by  any  powxr  short  of  divine  grace,  to  blush,  my  guilty 
and  treacherous  opponents  ought  to  blush  to  their  very  tonsures!  But,  the  grace 
of  God  only  can  make  a  culprit  see  and  feel  his  crimes ! 

I  have  one  remark  more.  I  am  prepared  for  even  the  ultra  deism  of  the  Vol- 
taire school  from  you,  gentlemen,  but  the  indecent  sally  in  your  last  letter,  I  was 
really  not  prepared  to  hear.  I  allude  to  your  revolting  blasphemy,  in  your  last 
letter.  Will  the  christian  community  pardon  me  for  quoting  it?  "One  thing  ia 
certain,  the  Holy  Ghost  must  consider  you  (Dr.  B.)  no  extraordinary  genius,  when, 
after  a  course  of  thirty  or  forty  years  in  his  school,  you  betray  such  ignorance."  &c. 

The  ignorant  and  deluded  victims  of  popery,  who  can  write  and  inflict  on  the 
church,  such  outrageous  blasphemy  against  the  most  Holy  One,  cannot  be  said  to 
believe  that  "there  is  any  Holy  Ghost."  And  it  were  mockery  to  call  them  christ- 
ians !  I  appeal  to  every  one  of  the  five  hundred  thousand  christians  in  the  United 
States,  who  read  our  letters !  Have  we  not  convicted  the  priests  of  Deism,  and 
deliberate  blasphemy  ? 

One  word  to  the  confederated  parties  :  Gentlemen  priests  :  Your  very  natural  and 
anti-christian  invectives  against  God's  holy  word,  have  been  gladly  hailed  by  all  the 
infidels  in  the  land.  I  said  gladly,  for  in  the  absence  of  the  Agrarian  chief,  now 
laboring  in  the  cause  of  deism,  in  England,  they  rejoice  at  any  little  aid  to  their  cause, 
come  it  from  a  Roman  priest,  dyed  in  the  wool :  or  come  it  from  a  genuine  pupil  of 
Frances  Wright.  And  this  is  no  despicable  attribute  of  their  system,  that  they  are 
very  thankful  for  very  small  favors !  It  is  true ;  and  I  only  remind  you  of  it :  they 
have  applauded  your  intellectual  industry  against  God's  holy  Bible,  at  the  expense  of 
your  sincerity  and  moral  honesty,  xlnd  it  ought  not  to  be  concealed  that  these, 
your  auxiliaries,  gravely  pronounce  you  hypocrites.  Prepare  the  watch-word,  there 
will  soon  be  trouble  in  the  camp  ! 

And,  gentlemen  deists, — I  use  not  the  title  invidiously, — are  you  aware  of  the 
ch-aracter  and  pretensions  of  the  Roman  priests  with  whom  you  make  common  cause  ? 
Are  you  aware  of  the  consequences  which  will  follow,  should  you  succeed  in  conduct- 
ing them  into  power,  in  these  United  States  ?     Look  at  Italy,  at  Austria,  Naples,  and 


ROMAir    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST.  91 

Spain.  Yon  are  helping  to  light  up  the  fires  of  the  Auto  da  fe  !  The  Roman  church 
cannot  exist  without  persecutions,  massacres,  and  the  burning  of  her  foes.  For  she 
holds  no  faith  with  heretics :  and  that  it  is  a  most  meritorious  deed  to  extirpate  heretics! 
In  aiding  the  Roman  priests  (who  laugh  in  their  sleeves  at  your  credulity  and  weak- 
ness) you  are  preparing  the  fire  and  fagots!  You  are  preparing  for  yourselves  the 
unenvied  distinction  of  being  the  last  devoured  !  Pause,  and  think.  Do  not  strengthen 
the  tyrant's  arm  which  is  raising  the  blow  against  our  fair  and  happy  Republic  ! 

I  now  go  on  to  show  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  younger  than 
Christianity  :    and    that   Popery    is  a   mere   novelty    in    the    religious 

WORLD. 

Here  I  would  observe  that  the  church  of  God  is  one  great  and  holy  body,  of  which 
Christ  is  the  head.  The  church  has  existed  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  it  exists 
now,  and  will  exist  to  the  consummation  of  all  things ;  unaffected  by  the  lapse  of 
time,  or  the  change,  and  succession  of  individual  members. 

The  church  has  ever  held  the  truth.  And  truth  descended  from  God,  and  has  ever 
kept  her  throne  in  Zion.  Christ  the  King  of  truth,  reigns  in  her  forever.  Nothing 
of  human  invention  is  of  the  truth.  Every  item  of  it  comes  from  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  following  are  some  of  these  leading  truths  which  never  failed  in  the  church ; 
and  which  have  ever  distinguished  the  church  from  all  human  societies.  And  wher- 
ever these  doctrines  are  wanting,  there  "  Satan  has  his  seat;" — there  is  "  his  syna- 
gogue." 

1st.  The  one  living  and  true  God  is  the  only  and  exclusive  object  of  divine  worship 
and  veneration.  The  church  of  God  never  prayed  to  creatures  ;  never  made  suppli- 
cations to  dead  men,  or  dead  women.  The  pagan,  and  afterwards  the  anti-christian 
apostacy  alone,  did  this.  The  pagans  deified  their  heroes  and  heroines,  and  made 
supplications  to  them.  The  antichristian  apostacy,  faithful  copyers,  have,  in  like  man- 
ner, deified  or  canonized  their  dead  spiritual  heroes  and  heroines ;  they  offer  incense  to 
them ;  bow  down  before  them  ;  and  make  solemn  supplications,  and  prayers  to  them. 
These  systems  are  twin  sisters ;  begotten  by  their  common  father,  the  prince  of  dark- 
ness, the  grand  enemy  of  divine  worship,  and  the  originator  of  all  idolatry. 

2d.  The  Church  has  always  held  faith  in  one  savior,  Jesus  Christ;  and  his 
one  perfect  sacrifice.  Pagan  and  antichristian  apostacies  have  renounced  this. 
The  sacrifices  of  the  former,  and  the  mass  sacrifice  of  the  latter,  have  displaced  and 
rejected,  completely,  the  one  only  sacrifice  of  our  blessed  Lord.  Besides,  popery  has 
created  such  a  host  of  mediators,  and  mediatrices,  and  intercessors,  in  the  deified 
saints,  that  the  humble  faithful  cannot  get  a  sight  of  the  one  only  mediator  Christ,  on 
account  of  the  countless  rabble  of  saints  put  into  the  place  which  HE  alone  occupies. 

3d.  The  church  of  God  never  used  images  to  aid  her  worship.  She  was  solemnly 
prohibited  from  this  iniquity  by  the  second  precept.  "  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto 
thee  any  graven  image,  nor  the  likeness  of  any  thing,  &c.  Thou  shalt  not  bow 
down  thyself  to  them,  &.c."  This  is  the  literal  version  of  the  Hebrew  original;  and 
every  other  version  is  false;  and  does,  of  design,  cover  idolatrous  practices.  As  for 
the  cherubim,  and  the  brazen  serpent,  they  were  made  by  an  express  command  of  God ; 
and  they  were  not  used  to  worship  God,  in  any  sense  whatever.  It  was  for  the  sin  of 
idolatry,  or  using  images  and  false  gods,  that  the  ancient  Jews  suffered  most  severely, 
by  the  terrible  judgments  of  God  on  that  heaven  daring  sin ! 

4th.  The  circumcision  of  the  heart,  or  spiritual  regeneration  was  a  peculiar  doctrine 


gg>  BOHAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

of  tbe  church.  "  Except  a  maa  be  bora  again,  he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of 
God."  This  doctrine  is  unknown  to  pagans,  and  laughed  to  scorn  by  the  pope,  and 
his  priesthood.  They  hold  that  no  "  internal  grace"  is  needful  in  the  members  of  the 
church,  but  only  "external  profession."  And  most  gravely  they  assert  that  wicked 
men,  and  even  reprobates,  remaining  in  the  public  profession  of  the  church,  are  true 
members  of  the  body  of  Christ."  See  Bellarmine  De  Eccles.  Lib.  iii.  cap  2  and  7. 
And  the  Rhem.  Annot.  on  1  Tim.  2.  Sect.  10.  And  on  John  15.  Sect.  1.  Willet, 
p.  51. 

5th.  The  church  always  held  that  God  only  and  exclusively,  is  the  lord  of  the 
HUMAN  conscience;  and  in  no  subordinate  sense  can  any  mortal  claim  power  over 
the  conscience.  Almighty  God  will  not  share  his  throne  with  any  miserable  and  arro- 
gant tyrant.  All  false  religions  lodge  power  with  the  priests  to  rule  over,  and  dictate  to, 
the  conscience.  This  ever  has  been  the  characteristic  of  paganism,  and  Romanism. 
The  evidence  of  this  Ues  open  to  view  on  the  page  of  scripture ;  and  in  the  history  of 
paganism,  and  the  Roman  church. 

6th.  Almighty  God  alone  can,  and  does  pardon  sin.  He  gave  the  law,  pre- 
scribed the  penalty ;  we  are  his  moral  subjects  ;  to  him  alone  are  we  accountable  in 
the  matters  of  sin,  spiritual  duty,  and  pardon.  As  church  members  we  are  to  confess 
our  faults  one  to  another  ;  and  so  ought  the  priest  to  confess  his  faults  to  the  people,  if 
this  text  be  quoted  by  them  as  authority  for  his  innovation.  But  auricular  confes- 
eion  has  no  warrant  from  Almighty  God.  Upon  the  principles  of  pagans,  and  Roman 
cathoHcs,  God  has  transferred  over  into  the  hands  of  immoral  and  polluted  men,  the 
government  of  his  empire.  If  a  priest  has  a  right  to  receive  the  confession  of  sins, 
and  pronounce  absolution,  for  money ;  then  has  he  the  right  to  claim  the  judgment 
seat  of  heaven  ;  judge  the  dead  ;  and  displace  Jesus  Christ,  in  order  to  make  gain ! 

7th.  The  spirit  of  true  religion  is  the  unsubduable  spirit  of  liberty.  Wherever 
the  worship  of  the  true  and  holy  One  has  been  established  by  the  gospel,  there 
liberty  has  reigned.  And,  just  in  proportion  as  the  gospel  is  left  unshackled  by  the 
traditions,  and  interested  schemes  of  men,  has  liberty  had  her  splendid  triumphs ) 
The  Jewish  church  exhibited  Uberty  diffusing  happiness  over  a  free  and  blessed  people. 
When  religion  languished,  tyrants  bore  sway.  Let  the  people  cast  their  eyes  over  all 
Roman  catholic  nations,  and  contrast  their  degradation,  tyranny,  priestcraft,  and 
outrageous  oppression,— with  the  light,  liberty  and  happiness  of  Protestant  countries ! 
Contrast  Spain  and  Italy,  and  Austria,  with  Holland,  and  Scotland,  and  England! 
Contrast  the  turbulent  Mexicans,  and  Southern  priest-ridden  republics,  with  our  own 
glorious  republic,  and  read  the  truth,  visibly  written,  as  with  a  sunbeam  from  heaven ! 
I  would  draw  the  attention  of  every  sound  politician  to  this  point.  I  know  of  no  other 
portion  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  history,  more  fruitful  of  great  practical  lessons  to  the 
patriot,  and  to  our  country,  than  this  is. 

8th.  The  true  and  chaste  spouse  of  Christ  is  not  conjoined,  in  bondage,  unto  the 
state.  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,"  said  Christ.  And  his  ser^'ants  are  not 
allowed  to  usurp  authority,  or  "be  lords  over  God's  heritage ;"  far  less  are  they  to  be 
luxurious,  proud,  insolent  princes,  and  truculent  tyrants  !  The  pagan  and  Roman 
religions;  and  those  which  are  only  half  reformed  have  permitted  the  infidel  princes 
of  the  earth,  the  "  Lords  spiritual  and  temporal,"  to  tyrannise  over  the  church :  to  make 
a  tool  of  her,  and  her  lordly  revenues,  to  promote  personal,  and  family  ambition :  until 
she  is  become,  in  many  lands,  a  fallen  and  degraded  thing ;  vile,  and  impure  ;  and 
loathsome !     The  tyrants  of  the  earth  have   converted  her  into  "  The  mother  of 


ROMAN    CAtHOLlC   CONtftOVERSr.  93 

harlots,  and  abominations  of  the  earth.^'  This  is  her  name  among  the  nations  of  tha 
earth,  and  all  the  host  of  God.  This  name  the  linger  of  the  Lord  has  written  on  hey 
brazen  forehead  !  And  an  Atlantic  of  priestly  holy  water  can  never  wash  her  clean^ 
nor  wipe  the  brand  from  her  forehead ! 

These  peculiarities  of  a  false  religion,  show  that  Romanism  is  not  the  pure  and 
ancient  church  of  Christ.  But  this  is  only  my  introduction.  The  grand  peculiarities 
of  Popery, — with  your  leave,  I  shall  class  under  ten  heads, — or,  gentlemen,  ten  horns^ 
if  you  please. 

First.  The  pope's  supremacy.  I  shall  not  stop  here  to  refute  these  doctrines : 
I  shall  merely  establish  their  origin  and  date,  in  order  to  show  that  popery  proper,  is  a 
mere  novelty  in  the  christian  world.  Our  refutation  shall  be  offered  when  we  reach 
these,  in  "  the  dependency  of  our  argument." 

All  papists  admit  the  pope's  supremacy.  But  among  the  sectaries  in  the  bosom  of 
''  Holy  Mother,"  there  has  been  great  diversity  of  belief.  There  are  four  i)rominent 
kinds  of  faith,  rending  asunder  holy  Unity,  on  this  essential  point.  One  class  vouch- 
safes him  a  mere  presidency  :  a  second  votes  him  an  unlimited  sovereignty  :  a  third, 
exalts  the  pope  to  an  equality  with  God :  the  fourth,  very  modestly,  makes  the  pope 
actually  superior  to  God  !  This  I  shall  discuss  again :  I  shall  wait  to  see  whether  our 
learned  priests  will  venture  to  deny  this  division.  Ignorance  of  their  own  wTiters 
may  very  probably  induce  them  to  deny  it. 

Now,  according  to  the  doctrines  of  the  pope's  supremacy,  Peter  was  made  the  first 
supreme.  And  having  died  in  A.  D.  67,  he  was  succeeded  by  some  obscure  beings, 
upon  whose  names  even  the  Romanists  cannot  agree.  But  the  holy  apostle  John 
survived  Peter  at  least  forty  years ;  and  so  these  obscure  but  absolute  supremes,  were 
placed  over  this  holy  and  beloved  apostle !  This  was  really  outrageous  in  the  Romish 
church !  And,  moreover,  this  apostle  John  has  not,  in  any  of  his  inspired  writings, 
had  the  grace  of  God,  or  the  good  sense,  to  acknowledge  this  supremacy ;  nor  deported 
himself  as  a  dutiful  son.  On  our  priests'  principles,  Drs.  Power  and  Levins  must 
denounce  the  holy  John  as  a  rebel ious  son  of  "  Holy  Mother  !"  What !  Live  40  years, 
and  write  so  much  scripture,  yet  say  not  one  word  for  his  holiness,  and  his  essential 
supremacy  !  Padre  Levins  ought,  forthwith  to  excommunicate  his  memory,  with  bell, 
book,  and  candle  !  Gentlemen,  by  what  strange  and  unheard  of  negligence  in  discipline, 
has  this  been  omitted  by  "  Holy  Mother  ?"  Never  did  her  thunders  of  the  Vatican  thus 
aleep  when  her  vengeance  burned  against  the  pious  and  martyred  saints  of  Europe  ! 

The  early  councils  resisted  papal  supremacy.  In  A.  D.  418,  the  sixth  council  of 
Carthage  resisted  three  popes,  one  after  another.  The  council  of  Chalcedon,  held 
about  the  year  450,  resisted  pope  Leo,  on  the  question  of  his  supremacy.  A  mighty 
and  harmonious  opposition  was  directed  against  papal  usurpation  by  the  bishops  and 
and  clergy  of  France  and  Germany.  Illyricus,  in  Catal.  Test.  Verit.  p.  41,  gives 
their  epistle,  in  which  they  "  admonish  the  pope  Anastasius  and  his  accomplices,  to 
let  them  alone,  and  not  exercise  their  tyranny  over  them." 

The  bishops  of  Belgia  resisted  the  pope  Nicholas,  so  late  as  860,  Illyricus  records, 
in  p.  80,  their  epistle  to  him,  in  which  they  say, — "  We  will  not  stand  to  (hy  decrees ; 
nor  hear  thy  voice;  nor  fear  thy  thundering  bulls!  We  assault  thee  with  thine  own 
weapon,  who  despisest  the  decree  of  our  Lord  God  I" 

So  late  as  the  seventh  century  the  Anglian  bishops  resisted  popery  in  England,  and 
refused  even  to  own  the  pope,  and  his  Austin  monks  as  chrisslians.  See  Burgess* 
Tracts,  p.  125,  Lond.  Prot.  Joum.  May,  1832. 


94  ROMAK  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

In  Scotland,  as  Is  evident  from  Dr.  Jamieson's  history  of  the  Culdees,  popery  and 
•upremacy  were  resisted  with  strong  indignation  to  even  a  later  period. 

In  Ireland  the  devout  Irish  resisted  popery  still  longer.  Dr.  O'Halloran  declares 
in  his  antiquarian  researches,  that  "  St.  Patrick,  beyond  doubt,  found  in  Ireland,  when 
he  arrived  there,  an  established  Christian  Church."  And  he  declares  that  "an  un- 
compromising enmity  existed  in  the  minds  of  the  Irish  people  against  every  thing  con- 
nected tvith  Rome!  "And  we  have  the  famous  reply  of  the  Irish  divine,  St.  Ibar, 
on  record,  which  he  made  to  St.  Patrick,  who  wished  to  exercise  somejurisdiction:— • 
•^  We  never  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  a  foreigner  /"  Let  every  true  hearted  Irish- 
man record  this  reply  of  their  famous  native  divine ;  and  remember  the  fact  that  Ireland 
never  submitted  to  the  pope's  supremacy  until  overpowered  by  the  conspiracy  of  the 
pope,  and  mng  Henry  II.,  in  A.  D.  1172.  I  refer  to  O'Driscoll's  views  of  Ireland, 
ii.  p.  85. 

In  Spain,  the  radical  elements  of  popery  and  papal  supremacy  were  detested,  and 
successfully  resisted,  so  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century.  See  Dr.  Geddes 
on  Popery,  vol.  ii.  11—60  ;  and  McCrie's  History  of  the  Reformation  in  Spain  and 

Italy. 

The  emperor  Lewis,  son  of  Charlemagne,  so  late  as  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century, 
with  all  his  clergy  and  nobles,  owned  no  supremacy  in  the  pope ;  but  on  the  conr 
trary  sustained  the  power  of  the  bishops  and  councils  against  him.  Hence  the 
devout  exclamation  of  your  own  honest  Platina:  "  O  Ludovice,  utinamnunc  viveres."' 
See  Illyr.  Catal.  p.  86,  Morn.  Exer.  p.  224. 

The  best  and  early  fathers  warmly  opposed  the  Pope's  supremacy.  St.  Augustine 
was  the  fourth  who  signed  the  famous  decree  of  the  African  Milevetan  Council.  This 
decree  was  made  against  all  appeals  from  the  African  Church,  by  bishops,  or  mem- 
bers, to  the  pope ;  and  it  was  made  in  opposition  to  Pope's  Zosimus,  Boniface,  and 
Celestine.     See  Mansi  Collect.  Cone.  Tom.  iv.  p.  507 ;  Venet.  edit.  1785. 

Jerome,  also  opposed  it ;  hear  his  words  :  "  The  Church  of  the  Roman  city  is  not  to 
be  deemed  one  thing,  and  the  church  of  the  whole  world  another.  Gaul,  Britain, 
Africa,  Persia,  India,  and  all  the  barbarous  nations  adore  one  Christ:  and  observe  one 
Tule  of  faith.  If  you  look  for  authority,  the  world  is  greater  than  a  city,  (Rome.) 
Wheresoever  a  bishop  is,  whether  at  Rome,  or  Constantinople,  or  Alexandria,  or 
Tanais,  he  is  of  the  same  worth,  (or  authority)  and  the  same  priesthood."  "But  all 
are  successors  of  the  apostles.  Why  do  you  produce  to  me  the  customs  of  one  city  ?" 
To  Evagr.  Tom.  ii.  p.  512,  Paris  edit,  of  1602. 

The  following  from  St.  Jerome  has  a  very  particular  claim  on  our  attention  :— 
*' Bishops  should  remember  that  they  are  greater  than  elders,  (presbyters,)  rather  by 
custom,  than  by  truth  of  the  Lord's  appointment :  and  that  they  ought  to  rule  the 
church  in  common."     On  Titus  Lib.  i.  cap  1 . 

Hear  Theodoret's  memorable  words  :— "  Christ  alone  is  head  of  all :  the  church  is 
his  body ;  and  the  saints  are  the  members  of  his  body  :  one  is  the  neck :  another  the 
feet."  "By  bis  legs  understand  St.  Peter,  the  first  of  the  apostles."  On  Sol.  Song. 
Par.  Lat.  edit.  1608.  So  far  from  making  Peter  the  head,  he  considered  him  the  legs, 
which  are  supported  by  the  feet,  as  you  well  know  ! 

Then  there  is  Tertullian's  famous  sentence,  which  your  Romish  writers  have  man- 
gled so  scandalously — supposing  that  we,  "ignorant  heretics,,"  had  not  seen,  nor  read 
that  honest  witness  against  your  supremacy.  "  Survey  the  apostolical  churches,  in 
in  which  the  verychairs  of  the  apostles  still  preside  over  these  stations ;  in  which  their 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  05 

own  epistles  are  recited,  uttering  the  voice,  and  representing  the  presence  of  each  of 
ihem.  Is  Achaia  nearest  to  thee,  thou  hast  Corinth.  If  thou  art  not  for  from  Macedonia, 
thou  hast  the  Philippians  arid  the  Thessalonians.  If  thou  canst  go  to  Asia,  thou  hast 
Ephestts.  If  thou  art  near  Italy,  thou  hast  Ronae,  whence  to  us,  also,  authority  is  near 
at  hand."  Praes.  adv.  Haer.  Cap.  36,  p.  215,  Paris  edit.  1675.  Now,  it  is  a  notable 
circumstance,  that  the  Romish  writers,  when  they  quote  out  of  TertuUian,  leave  out 
all  that  is  put  here  in  italics;  namely,  all  but  the  last  sentence;  thereby  perverting 
this  father,  and  making  him  utter  what  no  man  in  his  days  had  even  conceived,  or 
thought  of.  Mr.  Hughes  of  Philadelphia,  lately  quoted  him  in  this  garbled  manner; 
and  received  a  suitable  scourging  for  so  doing ! 

I  shall  gratify  you,  gentlemen,  with  one  refreshing  quotation  more.  And  if  you  do 
not  give  up  your  pope's  supremacy  as  universal  bishop,  then  on  your  own  principles, 
are  you  the  most  obstinate  heretics  alive.  For  I  quote  from  your  own  infallible 
and  holy  pope,  and  one  whom  you  have  deified  too,  and  do  invoke  with  incense, 
prayers,  and  holy  wrestlings ;  I  mean  pope  St.  Gregory, — Padre  Levins  very  gravely 
tells  us  that  he  loves  antiquities  and  all  old  things — were  it  even  like  "  Holy  Mother," 
a  very  old  sinner !  Well,  you  must  know  that  a  bishop  of  the  Greek  church  first 
claimed  supremacy,  and  the  honor  of  universal  bishop ;  until  one  of  the  fathers  of 
Rome,  some  of  them  pretty  honest  men  at  that  time,  rebuked  his  iniquity,  and  shamed 
him  out  of  it.  Now  hear  the  infallible  pope  and  saint  Gregory — who  wrote  this  in  the 
close  of  the  sixth  century,  namely,  590.  Having  shown  that  Peter,  and  Paul,  and 
John  were  all  members  under  one  head,  he  says : — "  No  one  desired  to  call  himself 
universalis,  or  universal  bishop."     See  Regist.  Epist.  Lib.  5.  p.  743,  Tom.  ii. 

Again,  for  this  is  too  good  to  be  quitted  so  soon  ;  "I  do  confidently  say  that  whoso- 
ever called  himself  universal  Bishop ;  or  is  desirous  to  be  called  so,  in  his  pride,  in 
the  FORERUNNER  OF  ANTI-CHRIST;  bccausc,  in  his  pride,  he  prefers  himself  to  the 
rest.  And  he  is  conducted  to  error,  by  a  similar  pride ;  for  as  the  wicked  One  wishes 
to  appear  a  god  above  all  men ;  so  whosoever  he  is,  who  desires  to  be  called  the  only 
Bishop  (solus  sacerdos,)  extols  himself  above  all  other  Bishops."  Tom.  ii.  Regist. 
Epist.  In.  15.  Epist.  33.  edit,  of  Paris,  1705. 

Once  more,  for  this  is  delectable,  coming  as  it  does  from  your  great  saint : — In  his 
eulogy  to  the  bishop  of  Alexandria,  he  solemnly  affirms  that  "  the  primcucy  of  Peter 
descended  to  three  Sees :  namely,  Antioch,  Alexandria,  and  Rome."  Tom.  ii.  887. 
Paris  edit. 

Once  more ;  for  I  am  determined  that  Pope  St.  Gregory,  if  possible,  shall  save  you 
from  the  mortal  sin  of  holding  the  Roman  pope's  supremacy.  Hear  your  holy  saint : 
*'  If  any  one  in  that  church  assumes  that  name,"  he  was  speaking  of  universal  Bishop, 
'^  which  in  the  opinion  of  all  good  men  he  (his  rival  in  the  East,)  has  done;  then  th^ 
whole  church  ;  {may  it  never  happen)  falls  from  its  state,  when  he  who  is  called  univer- 
sal, falls.  But  let  that  name  of  blasphemy  be  absent  from  the  hearts  of  Christians; 
which,  when  it  is  really  assumed  by  one,  the  honor  of  all  priests  is  taken  away." — 
Regist.  Epist. ;  Lib.  5 ;  Indie.  13 ;  Epist.  20.  also  Lib.  7.  p.  881.  Paris  edit.  1705. 

Thus  I  have  proved  by  arguments  and  testimony  from  your  own  church,  that  the 
supremacy,  and  infamous  usurpation  of  your  pope,  is  a  novelty  in  the  christian  world. 
It  was  not  fully  gained  by  the  '*  Man  of  Sin"  until  the  consummation  of  truth's  over- 
throw, in  the  darkest  hour  of  the  darkest  ages. 

Second.  The  invocation  of  saints,  is  a  novelty  introduced  by  the  "Man  of 
Sin"  also.     This  originated  in  those  bold  and  figurative  expressions,  and  forms  of 


96  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY* 

apostrophising  of  the  departed  martyrs,  common  among  declamatory  preachers- 
Invocation  of  saints  began  to  show  iti«elf  sometime  after  the  beginning  of  the  third 
century.  It  was  violently  opposed  by  the  truly  faithful,  until  the  seventh  century ; 
and  tinally,  it  was  established,  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  only  in  the  ninth  century, 
when  the  church  was  driven  into  the  wilderness. 

We  have  the  testimony  of  St.  Augustine  against  you  on  this  point.  "He  is  the 
High  Priest  who  has  entered  within  the  veil ;  and  who  alone  of  those  who  have  ap- 
peared in  the  fiesh,  does  intercede  for  us."  On  Psalms  64,  vol,  iv.  p.  633.  edit. 
Paris,  1685. 

Theodoret,  who  wrote  in  A.  D.  451,  says, — "Send  up  thanks-giving  to  God  the 
Father,  through  Christ;  and  not  through  angels.  The  council  of  Laodicea  also  fol- 
lowing this  rule,  and  desiring  to  heal  that  old  disease,  made  a  law  that  people  should 
not  pray  to  angels  ;  nor  forsake  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  On  Colos.  3  chap.  Parig 
edit.  Lat.  1608. 

St.  Chrysostora  declared  [in  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,]  that  "there  was 
no  need  for  minor  intercessors  with  God."  "  With  God  it  is  not  thus;  for  there  is  no 
need  of  intercessors  for  the  petitioners ;  neither  is  he  so  ready  to  give  a  gracious  an- 
swer, when  entreated  by  others ;  as  by  ourselves  praying  to  him."  On  Math,  cited 
by  Theod.  Eclog.  &c. 

More  full  is  this  saint  on  that  passage  of  "  sending  away  the  woman  of  Canaan." 
Mark  the  philosopy  of  the  woman ;  she  entreats  not  James,  nor  John,  nor  comes  she 
to  Peter ;  she  breaks  through  the  whole  company  of  them ;  and  saying  I  have  no 
need  of  a  mediator;  but  taking  repentance  as  a  spokes- woman,  I  come  to  the  fountain 
itself.  I  have  no  need  of  a  mediator ;  have  thou  mercy  on  me."  See  his  Disc,  on 
this  part  of  Mat.  ch.  15,  Paris  edit.  1621. 

Gregory  Nyssen  denounces  creature  invocation :  "  The  word  of  God  has  ordained 
that  none  of  those  things  which  have  their  being  by  creation,  shall  be  worshipped  :'* 
atlSaaftiov,  that  is  venerated  by  prayers,  or  invoked  in  religious  worship.  "  Moses, 
the  tables,  the  law,  the  prophets,  the  gospel,  the  decrees  of  all  the  apostles  forbid  equally 
our  looking  to  the  creature."  Orat.  4,  in  Eunom.  Tom.  ii.  p.  144,  Paris  edit,  of 
cioiccxv. 

I  shall  only  add  Epiphanius,  of  A.  D.  336.  He  is  a  strong  witness  against  the 
atheism  of  saint  worship  or  invocation.  "  Neither  is  Elias  to  be  worshipped,  although 
he  were  aUve,  nor  is  John  to  be  worshipped  TrpoaKwriTos,  i.  e.  bowed  down  before,  and 
prayed  to.  Nor  is  Theela,  or  any  of  the  saints  to  be  worshipped,  bowed  down  be- 
fore, or  prayed  to.  For  that  ancient  error  shall  not  prevail  over  us,  of  forsaking  the 
LIVING  God,  aud  worshipping  creatures.  For  they  served  and  worshipped  the  crea- 
ture more  than  the  Creator,  and  became  fools.  For  if  an  angel  will  not  be  worship- 
ped, how  muchmore  will  not  she,  (the  Virgin  Mary)  who  was  born  of  Anna?"  See 
his  book  against  the  heretics,  No.  79.  p.  448. 

Now,  will  you  permit  me  to  refresh  your  consciences,  gentlemen,  with  a  contrast 
of  Romanism  with  this  primitive  Christianity  of  the  fathers.  In  the  face  of  the  Bible, 
in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  commands  us  not  to  pray  to,  or  worship  creatures :  in  the 
face  of  the  testimony  of  Councils,  by  the  sainted  fathers,  you  thus  pray  ; — "  O  Holy 
Mary  ! — obtain  for  us  by  intercession,  light  to  know  the  great  benefit  which  Christ  has 
bestowed  on  us."  "  O  Holy  Virgin,  obtain  for  us  by  thy  intercession,  that  our  hearts 
maybe  so  visited  by  thy  holy  Son,  &c."  "  O  most  pure  Mother  of  God  !" — What 
revolting  blasphemy !  God's  Mother ! !    Mother  of  God  J !     Paganism  never  breathed 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  97 

€iich  Atheism,  god  has  no  mother!  The  infinite  and  invisible  being,  god,  has 
NO  MOTHER  !  What  a  most  brutish  mind  conceived  this  idea  !  What  a  brutahzing  ' 
prayer  this  is,  to  teach  men !  Christ  our  mediator,  as  man  had  a  mother ;  but  as  God, 
he  had  no  mother. — But  1  go  on. — "  O  Mother  of  God,  we  beseech  thee,  obtain  for  us, 
by  toy  intercession,  grace  to  lead  pure  and  holy  lives,  &c."  Again : — "  O  most  bles- 
sed Virgin,  graciously  vouchsafe  to  help  us  to  accomplish  the  work  of  our  safvation, 
by  thy  powerful  intercession  ! — Amen."  See  Dr.  John  Power's  Catholic  Manual; 
Rosary  of  the  B.  Virgin  :  N.  York  edit. 

The  following  1  copy  from  "the  Roman  Catholic  prayer  book,  or  devout  christian's 
Vade  Mecum.'"  It  will  be  seen  how  Dr.  Power,  and  the  Philadelphia  book  differ  in 
translating  the  same  passage.  Will  the  Bishops  not  take  care,  and  look  after  such 
pope-daring  innovations! — "O  most  blessed  Virgin, graciously  vouchsafe  to  negotiate 
for,  and  with  us,  the  work  of  our  salvation,  for,  and  with  us,  the  work  of  our  salvation, 
by  thy  powerful  intercession  !     Amen," 

Again: — "Confiding  in  thy  goodness  and  mercy,  I  cast  myself  at  thy  sacred  feet, 
and  do  most  humbly  supplicate  thee,  O  Mother  of  the  eternal  V/ord,  to  adopt  me  as 
thy  child ;  and  take  upon  thee,  the  care  of  my  salvation."  "  O  God,  grant,  we  be- 
seech thee,  by  the  Virgin  Mary,  his  mother,  that  we  may  receive  the  joys  of  eternal 
life,  by  the  same  Christ  our  Lord." 

I  copy  the  following  from  the  Litany  of  our  Lady  of  Loretto. — The  Litany  means 
a  solemn  suppUcatory  prayer.  "Holy  Mother  of  God,  pray  for  us! — Mother  of  our 
Creator,  pray  for  us  ! — Mother  of  our  Redeemer,  pray  for  us! — Mirror  of  Justice  : 
pray  for  us  ! — Seat  of  wdsdom,  pray  for  us !  Ark  of  the  covenant,  pray  for  us  ! — Gate 
of  heaven,  pray  for  us !     Refuge  of  sinners,  pray  for  us !  &c.  &c." 

But  this  is  not  the  worst :  one  thing  I  am  prepared  to  show,  that  the  various  Roman 
works  which  appear  in  English,  are  designed  to  impose  on  Protestants,  and  to  conceaj 
the  real  doctrines  of  Rome.  Only  look  into  their  Latin  books, — there  you  behold 
their  frightful  idolatry,  in  its  rank  growth,  and  perfection.  Here  is  a  specimen :  "Holy 
Mother, — Ora  patrem,  jube  filio, — pray  to  the  father  for  us,  and  command  thy  son, 
&c."  Again: — O  felix  puerpera,  nostra  plans  scelera,  jure  matris  irnpera  Redemp- 
tori !  O  happy  Mother,  atoning  for  our  crimes,  lay  thy  commands  on  the  Redeemer, 
in  right  of  thy  being  his  Mother."  And  to  consummate  what  all  heathenism  never 
conceived,  in  their  comparative  piety,  a  Roman  saint,  namely,  Bonaventura,  whom 
the  pious  and  faithful  do  worship  on  July  14,  annually, — has  gone  over  the  Psalms  of 
David  ;  has  stricken  out  Lord,  God,  &c.  and  has  inserted  Holy  Mother,  our  Lady,  &c. 
Thus:  "In  thee,  O  Lady,  do  I  put  my  trust,  &c." — "Let  our  Lady  arise:  let  her 
enemies  be  scattered,  &c."  "  O  come  let  us  sing  unto  our  Lady  :  and  make  a  joyful 
noise  unto  the  queen  of  our  salvation ! !"  Psalm  110.  "  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lady, 
sit  thou  on  my  right  hand,"  &c.  &c. ! ! !  See  Bonav.  psalt.  of  the  B.  Virgin ;  his 
works,  Tom.  vii.  Rom.  edit,  of  1583.  And  Hist.  Sec.  Char.  August,  de  Comera.  B. 
M.  Virg.     And  Morn.  Ex.  p.  523. 

And,  lest  these  may  be  deemed  too  antiquated,  I  shall  siiow  that,  in  all  that  is  idola- 
trous and  wicked,  the  Romish  church  is  immutable.  The  present  Poj)e,  Gregory 
XVI.,  in  the  Circular  sent  forth  on  entering  his  office,  solemnly  rendered  adorations  to 
the  Holy  Virgin  ;  and  calls  upon  all  the  clergy  to  implore, — "  that  she  who  has  been 
in  every  calamity,  our  Patron  and  Protectress  may  watch  over  us, — and  lead  our 
minds,  by  her  heavenly  influence,  to  those  counsels  which  may  prove  most  salutary 
to  Christ's  flock."     "  That  all  may  have  a  happy  and  successful  issue,  let  ai  raiee 

10 


98  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CGNTR0VERSY> 

our  eves  to  the  Most  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  ;   ivho  alone  destroys  heresies!    Who  is  our 
greatest  hope  !  Yea  the  entire  ground  of  our  hope  /"     See  Laity's  Directory,  1833. 

Third : — The  use  of  Images  in  the  churches  is  a  novelty.  Here  I  must  be  brief. 
The  best  of  the  fathers  condemned  the  use  of  images :  one  Council  in  A.  D.  300  con- 
demned the  use  of  pictures  in  churches.  In  700  the  Council  of  Constantinople  so- 
lemnly condemned  them :  and  ordered  their  expulsion  from  the  churches.  In  754  the 
seventh  Greek  general  council  solemnly  condemned  image  use  and  worship.  About 
the  ninth  century  this  idolatry  seems  to  have  been  established. 

Fourth : — The  doctrine  of  purgatory  is  a  mere  novelty. — I  shall  in  due  time, 
produce  the  best  of  the  fathers  against  it  with  St.  Augustine  at  their  head.  It  is  most 
manifestly  borrowed  from  the  pagan  fire  purification  of  souls.  And  it  has  been  a  ter- 
rific screw  in  sacerdotal  hands  to  extract  from  trembling  mortals  a  hundred  fold  more 
money,  than  all  the  African  slave  trade  ever  has  accumulated !  These  two  evils, 
namely,  slavery,  and  the  priests'  fiction  of  purgatory,  have  been  permitted  by  the 
wrath  of  heaven  to  be  let  in  upon  a  guilty  world !  The  one  dealt  in  human  bones 
and  sinews  and  blood !  The  other,  as  St.  John  saw  in  vision,  traded  in  human 
souls!  !  The  lust  of  gold  is  the  object  of  both!  This  golden  doctrine  of  popery 
is  only  some  four  hundred  and  four  years  old !  It  was  ultimatel}'-  established  in 
Rome  by  the  council  of  Florence,  A.  D.  1430. 

Fifth: — Priest's  celibacy,  that  "  old  bachelor's  joke"  which  vexes  our  holy  fathers 
so  much,  is  a  novelty  in  the  christian  world.  This  usurpation  of  a  freeman's  rights, 
is  unrecorded  and  unknown  in  all  histories  of  common  despotism !  No  human  tyrant 
ever  was  so  atrocious  as  to  enact  it  in  any  civil  government.  It  is  purely  diabolical : 
none  but  the  prince  of  darkness  was  capable  to  inspire  the  conception  thereof  into  the 
mind  of  a  papal  despot.  And  none  but  the  most  slavish,  trodden  down,  and  heartless 
of  all  our  species, — men,  I  may  not  call  them, — can  pretend  submission  to  it! 

Every  priest  and  school  boy  knows  that  it  is  not  only  uncommanded  in  the  holy 
scriptures,  but  set  down  as  a  predicted  and  prominent  characteristic  of  Anti-christ. 
The  "great  apostacy"  from  Christianity  was  to  be  distinctly  known  by  all  men,  as 
one  "forbidding  to  marry  I"     1  Tim.  iv.  3. 

And  every  one  who  has  looked  into  history,  knows  that  pope  Gregory  vTL,  a  tyrant, 
who,  in  point  of  atheism  and  vice,  threw  the  entire  line  of  the  pagan  emperors,  his 
^predecessors  on  the  Roman  throne,  completely  into  the  shade,  as  saints,  in  comparison 
with  him, — was  the  man  who  conceived  this  instigation  of  Satan,  and  took  away  the 
unalienable  rights  of  man: — the  right  of  marriage,  from  the  priests.  This  he  did  in 
the  5'ear  1074.  Hence  the  celibacy  of  the  priests  is  only  some  763  years  old.  Before 
that,  every  priest,  like  other  honest  men,  had  his  own  wife.  Since  that,  they  have 
been  "  holy  fathers^''  without  wives  ! 

Sixth  and  seventh  :  Transuhstantiation  and  the  Mass.  This  striking  peculiarity  of 
popery  is  a  mere  novelty  also,  in  the  religious  world  not  only,  but  even  in  the  rational 
world.  A  doctrine  which  represents  the  priest's  creating  his  Creator;  and  making  a 
wafer  to  be  really  the  human  flesh  of  Christ;  and  which,  therefore,  by  their  own  con- 
fession, raskeS:  iTxen  cannibals !  lam  perfectly  grave,  gentlemen.  I  ask  you,  what 
is  the  wafer,  when  you  put  it,  with  awful  solemnity,  on  the  projected  tongue  of  your 
kneeling  votarv?  You  reply,  it  is  the  flesh  and  blood,  really  and  truly,  of  Christ's 
human  nature."  Then  does  not  every  one  see  that  they  eat  and  swallow  down 
human  flesh !  If  that  make  them  not  cannibals,  then  words  have  lost  their  meaning ; 
and  men  have  lost  their  reason,  their  judgment,  and  their  senses! 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  99 

Against  this  monstrous  and  disgusting  novelty  of  the  mass,  we  can  produce  the  testi- 
mony of  seventeen  of  your  earliest  and  best  fathers,  namely,  from  Irenaeus  to 
St.  Augustine.  This  papal  invention  was  originated  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
century ;  it  ripened  by  degrees  under  sacerdotal  ignorance  and  knavery,  until  the 
ninth  century :  and,  finally,  along  with  auricular  confession,  was  established  into  a 
dogma  and  a  sacrament  of  the  Romish  church,  by  the  decree  of  pope  Innocent  III.  in 
the  fourth  council  of  the  Lateran,  in  the  year  1215.  Mosh.  iii.  ch.  3,  part  2,  Your 
own  Scotus  and  Alphonsus  give  the  same  date  of  its  age.  Alph.  De  Castro,  Adv. 
Hares.  And  although  Bellarmine  reproves  these  faithful  statements,  he,  nevertheless, 
admits  that  the  mass  is  no  older  than  the  year  1073  ;  and  he  gives  as  the  father  of  this 
innovation,  pope  Gregory  VII.,  and  his  council  at  Rome.  See  Bell.  De  Euchar.  lib. 
iii.  cap.  23.  So  recent  is  this  innovation  of  the  mtiss  by  the  confession  of  your  stan- 
dard writers ! 

Eighth  :  The  taking  away  of  the  wine,  or  holy  cup,  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord'3 
Supper  is  a  novelty.  Pope  Gelasius,  in  the  year  492,  pronounced  this  abstraction  of 
the  cup  "  an  impious  sacrilege."     See  Corp.  Juris  Can.  Pars  2,  Dist.  3. 

Ninth:  The  adoration  of  relics  was  introduced  about  the  same  time,  with  the  invo- 
cation of  saints  ;  and  it  arose  from  the  perversion  of  mementos,  or  keepsakes  left  by 
martyrs,  and  those  who  were  dear  to  the  church.  To  adore  relics,  or  venerate  them 
religiously,  is  to  adore  dust  and  ashes!  So  says  St.  Augustine:  "  Timeo  adorare 
terram,  &c.  I  fear  to  adore  earth  lest  God  condemn  me."  The  Conncil  of  Carth.,  5, 
Can.  15,  says  : — "  Placuit,  &c.  It  has  pleased  us  to  request  the  most  renowned  em- 
peror., that  relics  may  be  taken  away,  not  only  such  as  are  kept  in  shrines,  and  images, 
but  in  what  place  soever,  woods,  or  trees."  Willet  Synop.  Papismi,  p.  .391.  So  late 
as  the  year  730,  the  council  summoned  by  the  emperor  Leo  III.,  did,  with  only  ono 
dissenting  voice,  decree  that  "  the  worship  of  images  and  relics  was  mere  idolatry !" 
This  decree  was  fully  enforced  by  Leo;  and  the  churches  were  purified  of  them.  See 
Morn.  Exer.  p.  217;  also  Pezel,  and  Lampad.  Mellif.  Hist,  part  iii,  p.  37,  41. 

Tenth  and  last : — The  keeping  of  the  Bible  in  a  dead  language,  and  refusing  the 
free  and  unlimited  perusal  of  God's  holy  word,  is  a  novelty  in  the  church.  This 
usurpation,  so  characteristic  of  ghostly  tyranny,  is  condemned  by  the  uniform  tenor 
of  the  scriptures.  And  I  can  produce  at  least  twelve  of  the  most  eminent  Greek  and 
Latin  fathers,  who  maintain  the  holy  scriptures  to  be  the  only,  and  all  sufficient  rule 
of  faith  and  morals :  and  who  taught,  what  was,  indeed,  the  universal  sentiment  of  the 
whole  primitive  church,  that  it  was  the  duty  of  all  men  to  read  and  study  them.  I 
shall  select  a  few. 

St.  Augustine  was  not  in  favor  of  keeping  the  Bible,  and  using  prayers  in  an  un- 
known tongue.  He  says — "They  ought  to  be  aware  that  no  voice  reaches  God's  ears 
that  is  unaccompanied  with  a  feeling  of  the  mind." — "These  things  ought  doubtless 
to  be  corrected," — that  is,  the  purest  style  and  proper  dialect  of  each  people  should 
be  used  in  worship, — "  that  the  people  may  say  amen,  to  what  is  dtarhj  understood/^ 
Vol.  I.  p.  27,  Bened.  Edit.  Paris  1685.  Again, — "  fVe  ought  to  understand  that  we 
may  sing  with  human  reason,  not  as  it  were  with  the  voice  of  birds  !  Thrushes  and  par- 
rots, crows  and  magpies  are  taught  by  men  to  pronounce  ivhat  they  do  not  know'' — just 
as  your  victims  do  your  Latin  prayers. — "But  to  sing  with  understanding  is  granted 
by  the  divine  will  to  men."  Vol.  IV.  p.  82. 

Hear,  next,  the  reproof  of  St.  Jerome.  "  The  people  who  were  asleep  under  their 
masters,  will  arise   and  hasten  to  the  mountains  of  the  scriptures."— —"And  when 


100  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

they  shall  be  well  skilled  in  reading  them,  if  they  shall  not  find  any  to  teach  theftir 
their  study  shall  be  approved,  because  they  have  fled  to  the  mountains ;  and  have 
reproved  the  indolence  of  their  masters!"     Tom.  V.  p.  415.  Paris  Edit.  1602. 

St.  Chrysostom  saj'-s, — '■^Ignorance  of  the  Scriptures  is  the  cause  of  all  evils.*' 
Homil.  9,  in  ch.  3.  Coloss.  And  addressing  the  poor,  and  laboring  men  he  says, — 
"  Hear,  I  exhort  j^ou,  all  men  engaged  in  the  bustles  of  life,  and  obtain  for  yourselves 
books,  the  medicine  of  the  soul.  If  you  will  have  nothing  else,  get  the  New  Testa- 
ment, the  acts  of  the  apostles,  the  gospels,  as  tour  constant  teachers."  Horn.  9, 
in  Col.  3.  And  in  his  3d  Serm.  on  Laz.  he  goes  over  all  the  objections  of  tradesmen 
and  laborers,  and  then  adds, — "What  sayest  thou,  O  man,  is  it  not  thy  bnsiness  to 
study  the  scriptures,  because  thou  art  distracted  with  a  thousand  cares?  Truly,  indeed, 
It  is  thine,  much  more  than  it  is  theirs." 

I  shall  quote  one  beautiful  sentence  more  from  this  father: — "Whether  you  go  to 
the  Indies,  or  to  the  ocean,  or  to  the  British  isles,  or  to  the  Black  sea,  or  to  the  western 
regions,  you  vAll  hear  all  persons,  every  ivhert,  philosophizing  from  the  scriptures  : 
there  is  a  difference  of  speech,  but  not  of  faiih:  they  have  a  different  tongue,  butona 
mind  !*'     Serm.  53.  On  the  usefulness  of  reading  the  Bible. 

Finally;  St.  Basil  says: — "It  is  right  and  necessary  that  evert  one  should  learn 
that  which  is  useful  from  the  holy  scriptures;  both  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  the 
mind  with  greater  piety;  and  also  that  they  may  7?o^  he  accustomed  to  hitman  tradi- 
tions r  Tom.  II.  449.  Paris  Edit.  1722. 

Hence  it  is  most  manifest  that  Poper^^,  in  its  leading  characteristics,  is  a  mere  novelty 
in  the  christian  world  ! 

The  vulgar  and  illiterate  question  ever}' one  has  heard  reiterated, — "Where  was 
vour  religion  before  Luther."  This  question  maybe  answered  thus  : — 1st.  By  a  coun- 
ter question, — "Where  wasj'our  fece,  this  morning,  before  it  was  washed."  2d.  "It 
is  found,  as  a  system,  where  your  religion  never  can  be  found  ;  namely,  in  the  holy 
Bible."  3d.  "It  has  been  found  in  profession,  in  that  unbroken  line  of  faiihful  and 
holy  men,  descended  from  the  Italick  church  ;  and  perpetuated  in  the  line  of  the  Wal- 
denses,  Albigenses,  Lollards,  and  Culdees  ;  together  with  the  faithful  in  the  Greek, 
the  African,  and  the  old  Syriae  churches. 

I  shall  conclude  with  the  words  of  the  accurate  writer  Vcetius,  with  which  every 
man,  well  versed  in  the  history  of  the  first  six  centuries,  will  readily  accord  : — namely  ; 
"■hi  thefrst  six  hundred  years  of  our  era,  there  ivas  no  church,  no  one  doctor,  no  one 
martyr,  no  confession,  no  one  family,  no  one  member  of  the  church  ;  ntither  in  the 
West,  nor  in  any  other  part  of  the  world,  that  was  properly,  and  formally  a  Papist.'* 

1  am,  gentlemen,  yours  trulv,  &c. 

'W.  C.  B. 


EXTRACTS    FROM  THE  PRIESTS^  LETTER  VIU. 

It  opens  with  a  discussion  on  false  friendship, — Dr.  B.  has  deserted  and  ruined  the  cause 
of  his  rule  of  faith.  He  aspired  "to  be  the  mighty  erudite  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the 
Holy  Ghost :"  had  it  not  been  for  his  rash  "  ambitioning  theological  renown,"  and  his  ventur- 
ing "to  challenge  the  priests,"  his  rule  of  faidi  might  have  rested  in  obscurity,  and  enjoyed 
the  respect  which  obscurity  secures."  But,  sad  to  tell  :  disregarding  the  limits  which  nature- 
fixed  to  his  faculties,  he  fell, — like  Satan,  "a  brighter  star  ia  a  purer  firmament."     The 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  101 

"polemical  athlete  of  Calvinism  fell;  and will  the  members  of  the  M.  D.  Church 

fill  up  the  hiatus  by  way  of  epitaph  !" 

"  We  are  aware,  Rev.  Gentleman,  of  the  sorrows  and  afflctions  of  soul  which  now  haunt 
you, — of  your  regrets  for  disregard  of  the  monitions  of  your  interior  spirit,  when  you  provo- 
ked your  antagonists  to  engage  in  controversial  conflict.  We  pity — for  we  have  pity  for 
you — the  reputatioii  you  have  lost  by  the  contest." 

"  But  if  you  rest  on  a  bed  of  tortures,  you  made  it  for  yourself" 

"  Could  any  thing  else  befall  one  who  "  had  an  inveterate  selfishness  for  the  bubble  of  dis- 
tinction ;  a  deranged  or  vitiated  appetite  for  polemics;  and  the  bravo  of  a  few  bigots  and 
fanatics."  They  next  hold  up  Dr.  B.  as  duly  punished  by  his  fall,  and  perfect  failure,  for  his 
daring  to  give  "  the  challenge"  to  such  men  as  the  priests  ! 

"  Finding  your  letter  VIII  to  contain  no  matter  relevant  to  your  rule  of  faith," — "  but  being 
a  mere  register,  crude  and  false,  of  things,  not  bearing  on  the  point  in  issue,  it  is  consigned 
to  the  disregard  it  merits." 

Then  follows  an  eternal  repetition  of  all  that  they  had  advanced  again  and  again,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  scripture  rule  of  faith. 

"  It  suits  your  purpose,  because  you  cannot  prove,  on  the  principles  of  j-our  protestant 
rule  of  faith,  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God,  to  wander  into  irrelevant  matter,  and  divert 
the  attention  of  the  members  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church  from  the  real  point  under  discus- 
sion." 

"We  recur  to  your  past  letters  to  again  exhibit  your  illogical  references,  proofless  asser- 
tions, and  recklessness  of  truth,  to  again  '  insert  the  hook  in  your  nose.'  " 

"  Dr.  B.  writes,  '  to  charge  the  holy  scriptures  with  obscurity,  or  deficiency,  would  be  to 
bring  a  charge  against  the  Holy  Ghost.'  Would  not  this  contradiction  be  derided  were  it 
aftirmed  by  a  child;  and  yet,  its  author  is  preacher  Brownlee,  the  '  writer  and  gentlemen'  of 
the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  the  erudite  in  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  the 
Sampson  Agonistes  of  the  ^virtuous  ladies'  who  sanctioned  the  obscene  fiction,  Loretts." 

"  How  is  he  to  compare  parallel  passages  ?"  He  cannot  prove  the  Bible  to  be  the  word 
of  God!     You  Aa»e  «of  proved  it." 

"  Over  the  good  and  discriminating  sense  of  the  enlightened  portion  of  your  flockyour  false 
charges  have  not  prevailed  ;  they  rest  on  the  same  level  with  your  proofs  of  the  Bible  being 
the  word  of  God." 

"  You  call  us  'deists  and  infidels  !'  We  pity  the  degradation  and  malignancy  of  the  will 
from  which  these  terms  emanate." 

"  Dr.  B.  writes, — 'you  have  renewed  your  crusade  against  the  Holy  Bible.'  This  ridicu- 
lous, but  malicions  charge  we  repel.  Our  crusade  is  not  directed  against  the  Bible,  it  is  di- 
rected against  i/owr  Protestant  rule  of  faith,'' — That  is  to  say,  the  bible  !  *  Our  sincere  respect 
is  evinced  for  the  Bible,  since,  by  our  creed,  we  will  not  submit  it  to  the  indiscriminate  judg- 
ment of  every  ignorant  and  fanatical  mind.'  " 

"  To  gull  the  ignorant  among  your  flock,  you  affect  to  designate  us  Deists,  because  we 
use  your  expression  'the  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost!'  " 

"  We  have  proved  that  the  scriptures  cannot  establish  their  own  authenticity,  integrity, 
and  inspiration :  and  our  conclusion  is,  that,  since  you  admit  these  characters  as  articles  of 
faith,  and  admit  them  witliout  any  scriptural  authority,  the  scriptures  arc  not  your  onJijxxxle 
of  faitli.  Ag  lin  we  say,  since  all  christians  are  obliged  to  believe  the  canonicity  and  inspi- 
ration of  the  holy  scriptures,  and  since  the  canonicity  and  inspiration  of  the  scriptures  cannot 
be  proved  by  the  scriptures,  the  divine  author  of  the  christian  religion  never  gave  the  holy 
scriptures  as  man's  only  rule  of  faith.  AVe  farther  assei't,  that  as  your  only  rule  of  faith,  ia 
the  written  Word  of  God,  contained  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  ;  and,  as  the  books 
of  the  OLD  TESTAMENT  or  of  the  NEW  cannot  prove  their  own  authenticity  and  inspi^ 
ration, — you  cannot,  consistently,  believe  they  are  authentic  and  inspired." 

''What!  the  creed  of  the  christian,  according  to  Preacher  Brownlee,  is  to  be  derived 
from  the  scriptures  alone,  and  those  scriptures  not    able  to  ])rove  their  own  inspiratior:, 

10* 


102  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

which  is  an  article  of  faith  every  christian  must  hold,  in  order  to  believe  the  religion  divine, 
which  he  derives  from  the  scriptures.  '  If  this  be  not  absurdity  or  fatuity  in  its  last  stage^ 
we  know  not  the  import  of  ideas.'  " 

"  The  priests  care  but  little  for  your  approbation,  or  censure  of  the  Latin  Vulgate.  Your 
vituperation  is  of  no  consequence  when  such  profound  scholars  as  Grotius,  Walton,  and 
Mills  pronounce  judgment ;  and  you  know  they  have  spoken  of  the  Vulgate  in  terms  of  ex- 
alted praise." 

Next  there  follows  a  denunciation  against  translations  of  the  Bible; — all  is  uncertain;  all 
corrupt;  we  cannot  have  any  confidence  in  one  of  them  ;  the  translators  were  not  infallible  i 
you  cannot  know  this  from  the  rule  !  "  Does  the  Bible  tell  you  that  the  translators  took  no 
liberties  with  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  copies !"  Hence  all  is  utterly  uncertain;  all  doubtful: 
you  have  no  rule  ;  no  word  of  God  !  "  Hence  no  rational,  no  divine  faith  can  be  found  with 
Protestant/!'' 

In  this  manner  they  run  on  through  half  a  newspaper  column,  in  impiety  and  deism  not 
surpassed  by  Hume  or  Paine !  But  their  master  piece  of  deception  follows.  Without  inti- 
mating that  at  the  Hampton  Conference,  the  various  defects  of  former  translations  of  tho 
English  Bible,  were  pressed,  in  order  to  move  the  King  to  select  the  ablest  men  to  make  a 
new  translation  (which  is  the  one  noic  in  use.)  The  priests  collect  all  the  objections  made 
at  this  Conference,  and  hurl  them  forth,  with  dexterous  Jesuitism,  as  the  sentiments  of  the 
most  learned  Protestants,  against  all  English  translations  without  excepticns,  as  well  those 
then  in  existence,  as  the  one  made  afterwards  ! ! 

''The  Reformers,"  say  they,  after  having  declaimed  against  the  horrifying  heresies,  and 
translations  of  Luther,  Zuingle,  Calvin,  Beza,  and  the  English  translators,— "the  Reformers 
have  remorselessly  polluted  the  pure  fountain  of  eternal  truth ;  and  have  caused  the  people 
to  drink  of  this  poisoned  source  !"    "  Who  then,  can  repose  confidence  in  their  translations?'' 

All  this,  be  it  remembered,  comes  from  our  "learned  priests,"  who  have  not  yet  learned 
the  primary  elements  of  Hebrew  and  Greek !  Admirable  critics!  They  enter  the  lists  with 
the  profoundest  scholars  who  ever  lived, — I  mean  the  translators  of  the  English,  the  Dutch, 
and  the  German  Bible  I 

"  To  your  high  toned  demand,  'tell  us  if  there  be  one  English  version  of  the  Bible  autho- 
rised by  either  the  pope  or  tlie  church,'  we  return  the  very  brief  answer — Transeat.  If 
you  knoio  the  meaning  of  this  term,  you  know  what  use  to  make  of  it." 

"We  have  advanced  the  most  positive  and  convincing  arguments  to  prove  to  you,  that 
the  Saviour  of  the  world  did  not  establish  the  holy  scriptures  as  our  only  rule  of  faith, 
and  these  arguments  you  have  not  touched." 

I  quote  the  following  as  a  specimen  of  deliberate  m'srepresentation.  The  reader  knows 
t>.at  we  always  have  said  that  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  in  the  rule,  is  judge  of  controversy. 

"You  have  undertaken  to  prove,  that  the  holy  scriptures  aloxe  are  the  only  rule  of  faith, 
and  ONLY  JUDGE  OF  CONTROVERSY  established  by  Christ." 

"  Not  a  word  have  you  said  to  prove  that  the  scriptures  have  been  given  to  us  as  OUR 
ONLY  JUDGE  OF  CONTROVERSY." 

"Now,  Rev.  Sir,  we  have  many  arguments  to  prove  that  the  Scriptures  were  not  es- 
tablished by  Christ  as  the  judge  of  all  controversies  in  religion  between  christians.  Our 
£rst  argument  is  taken  from  the  nature  of  the  judicial  office.  The  Judge  between  two  in- 
dividuals at  variance,  is  bound  to  express  himself  in  such  a  manner  as  that  both  parties  shall 
?oe  what  his  sentence  is.  One  party  must  see  that  it  is  for  him,  the  other  must  see  that  it  i'S 
against  him.  But  the  scriptures  do  not  decide  in  this  way.  Therefore,  the  scriptures  are 
not  the  judge  of  controversies." 

Here  1st.  the  priests  take  advantage  of  their  own  misrepresentation.  We  say  the  Holy 
Gliost  is  the  judge.  2d.  They  renew  the  old  error  that  the  infallible  rule  makes  those  who 
lise  it,  infallible. 

To  neutralize  the  above,  let  my  reader  put  the  words  ''Holy  Ghost,''  in  the  above  sentence, 
as  the  judge  ;  and  he  will  at  once  perceive  the  blasphemy  of  the  papal  doctrine  here  expressed. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSr.  103 

The  error  and  sophism  lie  here  : — although  ihe  Holy  One  does  speak,  himself,  infallibly, — 
yet  because  each  of  these  parties  do  riot  infallibly  see  arid  feel  that  he  speaks/or  the  one,  and 
against  tlie  other:  therefore,  the  Holy  Ghost  and  his  rule  cannot  be  the  judge,  and  the  only 
rule!  But  we  go  on  :  "Now  we  say  that  one  of  two  tilings  must  be  admitted,  either  the 
scriptures  have  not  hitherto  pronounced  sentence,  clearly,  evidently,  and  sufficiently,  or,  if 
they  have,  that  either  tlic  Lutherans  or  the  Calvinists  are  very  stubborn  or  obstinate  for  not 
having  obeyed  the  sentence  of  the  Holy  Ghost.     Dr.  Brownlee  may  take  his  choice." 

To  neutralize  this  sophistry  of  deism,  we  need  only  apply  the  above  argument  to  any  con- 
ceivable rule,  or  revelation  from  God.  Eitlier  man  must  be  infallible,  amid  all  his  sins  and 
miseries,  before  God;  and  he  must  infallibly  take  up  the  rule  in  its  true  sense,  and  tha 
Judge's  decision;  or,  there  is  ko  truth  in  it ;  and  no  benefit  derivable  from  it!  Let  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  only  apply  the  above  mode  of  argument  to  his  own  rule:  and  he  must  per- 
ceive that  if  it  does  not  end  all  the  divisions,  and  errors  of  Jesuits,  and  Jansenists ;  Domini- 
cans and  Franciscans; — nay,  if  it  docs  not  prevent,  and  heal  all  the  errors  and  heresies  of  thosa 
vho  hate  seceded  from  "  Holy  Mother,''' — then  is  there  no  truth,  no  infullibility  in  it !  And,  hence* 
^his  argument  of  the  priests  annihilates  their  own  system! 

It  is  amusing  to  see  how  Dr.  B.'s  denial  of"  God's  Mother"  aftects  the  priests.  It  is  Nesto- 
rianism  •  It  is  atrocious!  It  is  blasphemy  !  What !  deny  that  a  woman  can  be  the  mother 
of  the  eternal  God!  Heaven  daring  man!  And  they  facetiously  aflfect  to  fall  into  a  fit  of  the 
hysterics  !     But  hear  them. 

"When  we  ourselves  see  Preacher  Brownlee  renewing  the  blasphemies  of  Nestoriua, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  shudder,  and  turn  with  affectionate  reverence,  to 
that  Holy  Mother,  wJio  has  never  sported  with  divine  truth,  and  who  stands  like  an  Appa- 
nine,  firm,  and  sublime  in  the  light  of  Heaven." 

But  they  shake  off  the  fit,  and  with  it,  all  their  consistency, — and  actually  themselves  fall 
into  Dr.  B.'s  Nestorianism  !  Hear  them.  "Yet  when  we  call  her  "  Mother  of  God."  we  do 
not  say  that  she  is  the  Mother  of  the  Divinity,  but  of  the  WORD  MADE  FLESH;  GOD 
AND  MAN  IN  THE  SAME  PERSON.  This  is  what  Preacher  Brownlee  calls,  "revolt- 
ing blasphemy !" 

This  is  incorrect.  We  called  that  "revolting  blasphemy"  which  the  priests  are  pleased 
here,  to  assert,  and  to  deny,  with  the  same  breath  ?  Every  one  must  perceive  that  to  call  the 
Virgin  Mary  "the  Mother  of  God,"  does  make  her  the  Mother  of  the  Divinity.  For  there  is 
one  God  only,  and  that  one  God  is  the  one  Divinity.  Either  there  is  more  than  one  God,  or 
the  priests'  doctrine  makes  a  woman  "the  mother  of  the  Divinity."  There  is  no  way  of 
eluding  this. 

It  would  be  amusing  and  instructive  to  hear  a  Roman  catholic  priest  explain,  in  an  assem- 
bly of  literary  men,  the  text,  in  the  Hebrews,  relative  to  Melchisedec,  who  was  the  type  of 
our  Lord,  "//e,"  that  is  our  Lord, — ^'icas  without  father,  without  mother."  He  was  "  icithout 
father,"  that  is,  as  to  his  human  nature.  He  was  "  without  mother;"  and  yet  he  had  a  mo- 
ther. As  the  son  of  man,  he  had  a  mother.  In  another  sense,  he  had  no  mother.  This  w 
the  point  to  be  settled  by  the  priests.  It  needs  only  the  aid  of  common  sense  to  say  that 
only  one  possible  conclusion  remains, — he  had  "  no  mother"  as  God. — I  ask  only  this  on« 
item  in  the  Romish  church's  invocation,  to  convict  her  of  atheism,  and  anti-christianism  I 
She  will  never  give  it  up;  for  by  the  wise  arrangement  of  divine  providence,  she  will  never 
cease  to  give,  daily,  infallible  evidence  that  she  is  the  antx-christ,  and  Babylon  th« 
Great  !  If  the  Romish  priests  were  to  lay  aside  this  novel  and  invented  title  "  Mother  or 
God," — we  should  be  deprived  of  one  main  evidence  that  she  is  the  "  WHonE  of  Babylon/* 
foretold  by  St.  John  I 


104  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

LETTER  IX. 

TO    DOCTORS    POWER,    VARELA,    AND    MR.    LEVINS. 

"  There  is  nothing  but  roguery  in  villainous  man." — Shakspearc. 

Gentlemen  : — Your  last  letter  clearly  reveals  what  the  religious  public  had  long 
suspected,  and  what  you  have  been  all  along,  anxious  to  conceal  ;  namely,  the  deep 
conviction  on  the  part  of  the  Roman  priests,  that  the  peculiar  dogmas,  and  ceremonies 
of  their  church  cannot  sustain  the  bold  inspection  of  the  American  community.  And 
hence  every  thing  is  to  be  hazarded,  every  thing,  even  truth  itself  sacrificed,  to  prevent 
your  antagonist  from  going  forward  into  "  the  chambers  of  her  imagery"  !  I  did  conjec- 
ture, gentlemen,  that  you  would  not  dare  to  follow  me  in  the  investigation  of  your 
christiano-pagan  system  of  popery.  But,  now,  in  your  last  letter,  you  have  settled  the 
question.  You  will  not  follow  me ;  you  will  not  leave  the  rule ;  it  is  more  easy  to 
retail  the  scandal  of  infidels  and  priests,  against  God's  holy  word,  than  to  enter  into  the 
arena,  and  defend  your  edition  of  baptized  Roman  paganism !  You  have  not  the 
moral  courage  to  stand  by,  and  assist  at  the  stripping  of  the  apocalj'ptic  "  Mother  of 
harlots.''''  You  dare  not  stand  forward  and  defend  her  nameless  abominations,  before 
the  enlightened  American  public !  For  me, — I  shall  go  forward :  five  hundred  thou- 
sand American  christians  have  condescended  to  cheer  me  on.  And  "so  may  God 
do  to  me  and  more  also,"  if,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  do  not  tear  that  veil  off  from  her 
haggard  face ;  and  show  her  abominations  to  the  whole  house  of  God,  in  this  land  1 

In  your  last  letter,  you  have  played  off  with  increasing  malignit}^  and  more  fellness 
of  purpose,  than  usual,  your  infidel  opposition  to  the  holy  word  of  God.  You  repeat, 
for  the  eighth  time,  your  malignant  opposition  to  the  v/ord  of  the  Most  High,  which  is 
the  Protestants  only  rule  of  faith.  You  repeat  that  the  Bible  is  not  the  rule,  and  the 
►Spirit  of  God  is  not  the  Judge,  because  the  Bible,  and  the  Spirit  cannot  prove  them- 
selves !  And  this  you  assert  in  the  face  of  the  full  and  manifest  evidence  to  the  con- 
trary, which  we  set  before  you ;  from  external  evidence,  which  establishes  the  authen- 
ticity and  genuineness  of  the  Bible  ;  and  from  internal  evidence.  Those  who  disbe- 
lieve this  holy  word  of  God  are  worse  than  devils.  For  saiih  St.  James,  ^^the  devils 
also  believe  and  tremhlt.^^  Ch.  ii.  19.  It  is  no  enviable  distinction,  gentlemen,  to  be 
posted  as  worse  than  the  worst  of  fallen  angels ! 

There  is  nothing  new  in  your  renewed  crusade  against  the  holy  Bible,  which  requires 
me  to  pause  in  order  to  refute  it.  Your  last  idea  of  infidel  vituperation  has  long  ago 
been  exhausted.  The  novelty  is  only  in  the  manner:  the  virulence  and  vituperation 
are  only  put  forth  with  new  force.  As  if  resolved  that  nothing  on  your  part  should  be 
wanting  to  consummate  the  evidence  set  before  the  public,  in  proof  of  your  unblush- 
ing* Deism,  you  are  filling  it  up,  even  to  overflowing !  And  you  seem  now  even  to 
glory  in  wearing  the  name  branded  on  ^''our  forehead,  as  the  representatives  of  poperv, 
— "  this  is  the  father  and  Prince  of  deism .'"  It  is  true  you  profess  sincerely  to  believe 
in  the  scriptures,  even  while  you  assail  them  fiercely.  I  do  not  doubt  it :  this  is  in- 
tended for  effect.  No  one  is  so  ignorant  as  not  to  know  that  even  Hume  always  spoke 
respectfully  of — to  use  his  own  words; — "■Our  holy  Religion,''''  even  while  uttering 
his  bitter  hostility  to  it  ?  And  even  Lord  Herbert,  the  father  of  "  the  Enghsh  deists," 
and  also  Lord  Bolingbroke,  always  professed  as  sincerely  as  you,  to  reverence  the  scrip- 
tures !     Herbert  even  received  a  revelation  from  heaven  to  publish  liis  book  against 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  105 

divine  revelation!     Remarkable  enemies  of  God's  cause  have  been  remarkably  in- 
consistent.    The  reason  is  obvious,  public  opinion  has  always  staggered  them  ! 

If  you  choose,  gentlemen,  to  continue  your  infidel  vituperations  against  the  holy 
scriptures,  I  shall  beg  leave  through  you,  to  inform  the  public,  that  they  can  find,  with- 
out your  vulgarity,  every  thing  you  have  been  retailing,  already  printed  in  old  Mum- 
ford^  and  Milner.  And  in  re})ly,  they  can  find  a  iuU  refutation  of  all  yourdeibtical  ob- 
jections in //orne's  Introduction.  He  has  collected  the  refutations  of  every  objectioti 
tliat  deism  has  yet  conceived.  And  the  intellects  of  our  priests,  who  never  leave  the 
beaten  path  of  old  Mumford,  and  Milner,  have  not  been  adequate  to  the  task  of  devis- 
ing any  one  thing  new  against  the  holy  Bible ! 

Your  defence  of  the  uncouth  blasphemy  of  calling  Mary  "  the  Mother  of  God," 
is  unique,  though  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  whole  system  of  your  sect.  "  The  Mo- 
ther of  the  eternal  God!"  A  creature  made  of  dust  and  ashes  the  mother  of  the  Al- 
mighty Creator  !  A  finite  creature  the  mother  of  the  infinite  Creator !  Then  it  was 
not  the  human  nature  of  our  Lord  that  was  born  !  It  was  the  eternal  and  divine  Es- 
sence of  the  Deity  that  was  born  !  Hence,  previous  to  the  birth  of  God,  or  1800  years 
ago  there  was  no  God! !  If  there  was  a  God  then,  of  course  he  was  not  born,  then 
Mary  is  not  the  mother  of  God  ! 

Besides,  do  yon  not  see  that  you  confound  the  tivo  natures  in  the  one  person  of 
Christ  ?  If  God  was  born  of  jMary,  then  is  the  Deity  a  human  nature  :  and  the  hu- 
man nature  of  Christ  is  nothing  else  than  the  essence  of  the  Deity  !  You  know  what 
monstrous  heresy  this  was  ! 

I  put  it  to  the  candor  of  any  reasonable  man,  whether  a  match  can  be  found  equal 
to  this  revolting  blasphemy,  amid  all  the  wildest  vagaries  of  the  human  race,  in  their 
worst  and  most  impious  forms  of  pagan  extravagance  !  No,  not  one  can  be  found  : 
by  one  only  is  it  matched  :  and  we  must  go  into  popery  to  find  it:  that  match  is  tran- 
gubstantiation  ;  in  which  a  priest  creates  his  Creator  out  of  bread  ;  and  then  eats  him 
up !  If  such  be  Christianity,  then  I  say,  "May  my  soul  be  with  the  philosophers  !'* 
But  no!  It  bears  the  deep  branded  stamp  of  its  legitimate  origin.  Such  doctrines,  I 
speak  it  gravely, — could  be  invented  only  by  the  devil,  as  Richard  Baxter  said. 

In  my  last  Letter,  I  showed  that  Catholicity  is  younger  than  Christianity  ;  and  thai 
popery  is  a  novelty  in  the  christian  ivorld.  We  have,  by  historical  documents,  and 
quotations  from  the  fathers,  fixed  the  birthday  of  the  existence  of  ten  of  the  Roman 
catholic  peculiarities.  And  we  call  on  the  priests,  in  the  face  of  the  American  com- 
munity, to  point  out  a  single  error  in  these  dates ;  and  refute  the  quotations  of  the  fa- 
thers, which  we  have  given.  Let  them  follow  us,  if  they  have  courage  to  defend 
their  sinking  cause ;  and  no  longer  make  themselves  ridiculous  in  lingering  on  the 
rule. 

It  will  be  proper,  in  sustaining  the  unity  of  discussion,  now  to  proceed  to  ])oint  out 
some  of  the  fatal  results  of  the  Roman  Catholics'  apostacy  from  the  only  rule  of  faith; 
and  the  only  judge  of  controversy.  And  the  point  which  I  have  selected  for  discus- 
sion in  this  Letter,  is  this :— The  peculiar  doctrines,  rites,  and  monkish  institutions  of 
Romanism,  loere  originated  in  sheer  fanaticism,  and  sustained  by  imposture.  My 
selections  of  specimens  and  evidence,  shall  be  rather  miscellaneous  in  this  Letter. 

1st.  Notwithstanding  the  command  of  the  Deity  to  take  good  heed  and  make  no 
manner  of  similitude,  "for  ye  saw,"  says  the  Almighty,— "no  similitude  in  the  day 
that  the  Lord  spake  unto  you  in  Horeb,"— the  Roman  church  declares  in  her  cate- 
chism, p.  360,  that   "  to  represent  the  persons  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  by  certain  forms, 


log  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

under  which,  as  we  read  in  the  old  and  new  Testaments,  they  deigned  to  appear,  iaf 
not  to  be  deemed  contrary  to  rehg-ion,  or  the  law  of  God.  Hence  in  the  engravings 
foand  in  certain  editions  of  the  Breviary  ;  and  in  pictures  on  the  stained  glass  of  Ca- 
thedrals, and  in  a  painting  seen  by  any  one  who  has  visited  the  Roman  catholic 
bishop  of  this  city,  God  the  Father  is  actually  figured  forth  as  a  venerable,  old,  white 
headed  man!  In  other  pictures  where  the  group  is  complete,  there  is  a  jpretty,  youth- 
ful man ;  this  they  call  Christ;  and  he  is  placed  on  the  old  man's  right.  Above  is  seen 
a  figure  of  a  dove:  this  animal  they  call  the  Holy  Ghost.  Hard  by,  in  gorgeous  hu- 
man robes,  stands  "the  Mother  of  GodP'  This  marvellous  group  of  an  old  man,  and 
a  young  man,  and  a  dove,  and  a  ivoman,  constitute  the  popish  couception  of  the 
family  of  their  god ! 

2d.  In  the  distribution  of  work  and  offices  assigned  to  the  vast  host  of  saints,  much 
fanaticism  is  displayed.  They  have  at  least  two  St.  Anthonies.  He  of  Padua  delivers 
his  votaries  from  water : — He  v/ho  is  sirnamed  the  abbot,  delivers  from  fire  !  St. 
Nicholas  is  invoked  by  young  persons  who  wished  to  be  married.  St.  Ramon  pro- 
tects women  who  are  "in  that  condition  in  which  all  good  ladies  wish  to  be,  who  love 
their  lords."  And  the  saint  Lazaro  assists  them  in  labor.  St.  Dom.ingo  cures  fevers ; 
St.  ApoUonia  takes  care  of  the  teeth;  and  she  must  be  invoked  with  prayer  and  in- 
cense, by  those  who  have  tooth  ache.  Then  St.  Lucia  heals  all  diseases  of  the  eyes ; 
Bt.  Petronilla  cures  the  ague  ;  St.  Liberius  the  stone :  and  St.  Blass  all  the  dis- 
eases of  the  throat.  St.  Barbara  is  invoked  as  the  refuge  in  war,  and  in  thunder 
storms  :  and  St.  Roque  shields  the  humble  faithful  against  the  plague.  Each  king- 
dom of  Europe  has  its  own  saint :  other  saints  are  more  menial :  One  saint  presides 
over  hogs ;  another  over  geese.  See  Cramp,  p.  332 ;  and  Townsend's  Trav.  in 
Spain,  vol.  iii.  p.  215. 

3d.  In  the  canonizing  of  saints,  and  adding  to  the  objects  of  divine  worship,  and  ve- 
neration, we  perceive  a  fruitful  exhibition  of  fanaticism.  This,  like  the  usual  pecu- 
liarities of  catholic  Rome,  is  borrowed  from  pagan  Rome.  The  pagan  priests  to  sus- 
tain their  credit,  now  and  then  proclaimed  that  certain  great  characters,  great  in  war, 
vice,  and  sensuality,  had  been  honored  in  heaven  and  placed  among  the  gods ;  and 
the  pagan  canonization  took  place  accordingly.  Even  the  modest  and  virtuous  Virgil 
deified  Augustus;  and  gravely  asked  him,  while  yet  alive,  in  what  part  of  heaven,  he 
chose  after  death,  to  reign  and  shine !  The  case  of  king  Romulus  is  an  apt  illustra- 
tion of  modern  Roman  canonization.  There  must  be  a  miracle,  or  a  vi'^ion  at  least. 
Well,  Proculus  appeared  before  the  Roman  Senate,  and  declared  that  Romulus  had 
revealed  himself  to  him  in  a  vision,  and  told  him  that  he  was  received  up  among  the 
gods.     See  Plutarch,  Vit.  Rom.  Halicar.  Lib.  2.  p.  124. 

In  modern  Rome,  miracles  are  required  in  evidence  ofsaintship;  and  there  is  actu- 
ally an  office  in  Rome,  where  the  congregation  of  Rites  sit,  and  gravely  receive  the 
transmitted  accounts  of  fresh  miracles;  and  hear  witnesses  ;  and  judge  as  solemnly  as 
they  can,  and  decide,  daily.  Even  Dr.  Lingard  is  a  simple  and  faithful  believer  in 
modern  incredible  miracles.  Even  the  Goliah,  Dr.  Milner,  while  he  rejects  certain 
popish  miracles  by  the  wholesale,  does,  nevertheless,  in  letter  24,  give  in  some  very 
dainty  and  precious  morsels  of  their  blessed  miracles.  Well,  on  their  miracles  being 
duly  vouchsafed  to  their  impostures,  and  on  their  being  duly  established  and  registered^ 
a  new  saint,  and  fresh  object  of  worship  is  set  up  before  the  simple  faithful.  Almost 
every  pope  has  added  some.  Benedict  VII.  added  eight  in  one  summer.  Clement 
XII., /owr  more;  others,  one;  others,  four.     But,  like  all  the  other  ''golden''  rites  oT 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  107 

Holy  Mother,  it  costs  an  immense  sum  to  get  into  the  ghostly  calendar,  and  be  a  god. 
This  is  one  way  by  which  St.  Peter's  purse  is  replenished  when  it  gets  low. 

I  shall  adduce  a  specimen  of  a  miracle  confirming  the  ghostly  honor.  The  idol  of 
Paz,zi,  Italy, — namely,  St.  Mary  Magdalene,  received  canonization  for  this  among 
many  other  marvellous  things.  "WTien  the  virgin  body,  after  death,  was  exposed  in 
church,  a  young  man  of  profligate  morals  came  among  others  to  see  it,  touch  it,  and 
venerate  it.  On  his  approach,  the  dead  bod}-  gravely  and  in  distrust,  turned 
round  its  head  from  him,  as  from  "a  horror  of  that  dunghill !"  This  was  witnessed 
and  testiiied  to,  by  no  less  than  one  Jesuit  priest.  Another  evidence  ef  an  infallible 
nature,  and  which  is  sure  to  gain  the  ghostly  honor,  is  this :  the  bones  and  dust  of 
saints,  in  ilitir  graves  emit  a  sweet  and  delicious  odor.  This  is  "  the  odor  of  sanctity." 
I  find  in  this  same  bull  of  the  Pope  which  canonized  this  idol  of  Pazzi,  that  this  is 
affirmed  of  this  "  Virgin  Magdalene.''  It  begins,  "  not  without  good  reason,  with  that 
incorrupiion,  and  good  odor  of  her  body,  which  continues  to  this  day,  &c."  At  Blois 
in  France,  M^ien  the  chest  of  relics,  kept  in  the  parish  of  St.  Victor,  was  opened,  the 
monk  of  St.  Lomer,  cried  out  that  he  felt  a  very  sweet  odor;  and  others  seized  with 
the  exemplary  infection,  said  they  felt  the  sweet  swell  of  roses  and  the  jessamine,  from 
the  dead  saint's  bones.  See  vol.  i.  p.  8,  10,  Frauds  of  Roman  Monks  and  priests: 
Prot.  i.  373  Glasg.  edit. 

In  the  absence  of  these  saints, — "  Holy  Mother''  has  carefully  collected  innume- 
rable specimens  of  their  relics,  which  are  venerated  and  bowed  down  to.  Indeed  a 
Roman  chapel  is  not  duly  consecrated  without  relics.  The  following  are  a  few  of  the 
holy  and  venerated  rehcs  of  St.  Peters,  Rome,  namely  :  The  cross  of  the  good  thief; 
St.  Joseph's  axe  and  saw :  and  what  is  a  rare  thing, — St.  Anthony's  Mill  stone,  on 
which  he  sailed  into  Muscovy.  In  other  churches  in  Europe,  they  have  a  little  speci- 
men of  the  manna  of  the  wilderness ;  a  comb  of  the  Virgin  Mary  ;  an  arm  of  St. 
Lazarus ;  a  finger  and  arm  of  St.  Ann,  the  Virgin's  mother :  St.  Patrick's  staff,  by 
which  he  expelled  the  toads  from  Ireland :  and,  what  is  very  appropriate,  a  piece  of 
the  rope  with  which  Judas  hanged  himself!  There  is  also  a  vial  of  the  Virgin's 
milt;  a  vial  of  the  breath  of  St.  Joseph,  caught  by  an  angel,  as  he  was  blowing  hard 
when  cleaving  wood  !  !  This  rare  relic  was  long  adored  in  France  ;  piously  carried 
to  Venice :  and  lastly  deposited  with  awful  solemnity,  in  Rome.  And  finally,  the 
head  of  St.  Dennis,  which  he  caught  up  and  carried  two  miles  under  his  arm,  after  it 
had  been  cut  off.     See  Phil.  Lib.  June,  1818,  Prot.  vol.  2.  p.  12,  Glasg.  edit. 

In  furnishing  the  relics  of  saints'  bones,  whole  church  yards  and  cem.etries  have 
been  ransacked ;  and  sold  to  the  simple  faithful,  for  objects  of  adoration,  and  idols. 
Chips  of  the  cross  are  in  all  monasteries,  and  chapels.  Could  these  fragments  be 
collected  they  would  prove  that  the  cross  must  have  been  large  enough  to  build 
our  United  States'  Navy.  In  many  churches  there  is  a  head  of  John  the  Baptist. 
"  How  thankful  I  am,"  said  a  dignitary  of  the  Roman  church,  on  seeing  a  Baptist 
head:  "this  is  the /ouri/i  head  of  John,  which  I  have  seen  in  France!"  And  Dr. 
M'CuUocli  tells  us,  that  some  years  ago,  five  pilgrims  arrived  in  Rome  with  relics  from 
the  Holy  Land  :  and  it  was  joyfully  discovered  that  each  of  tliem  had  a  foot  of  the 
ass  which  carried  our  Lord  into  Jerusalem. 

4th.  In  the  grave  pretensions  of  the  Romish  church  to  miraculous  powers,  there  is 
a  singular  exhibition  of  fanaticism.  You  are  aware,  gentlemen,  that  you  lay  unblush- 
ing claims  to  miracles.  "  The  Catholic  church,"  says  Dr.  Milner,  Lett. 23,  "being 
always  the  chaste  spouse  of  Christ, — continuing  to  bring  forth  children  of  heroical 


108  HOMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

sanctity,  God  fails  not  in  this,  any  more  than  in  past  ages,  to  illustrate  her  and  them 
by  unquestionable  miracles."  And  he  proceeds  to  give  rare  specimens.  A  nun  fore- 
told the  catastrophe  of  Lous  XVI.  A  certain  benedict  Labre  prophesied,  and  wrought 
miracles,  and  converted  no  less  than  an  American  clergyman  called  Thayer.  In 
1814,  a  man  who  got  his  back  bone  actually  broken,  was  made  whole  by  making  a 
pilgrimage  to  Garswood,  near  Wigan,  England ;  and  there  getting  the  sign  of  the 
cross  made  on  his  back,  by  the  relics  of  some  obscure  priest's  hand,  named  Arrow- 
smith,  who  was  killed  in  the  days  of  Charles  I. 

These,  however,  are  small  affairs  when  laid  in  the  balance  with  the  antiques  !  For 
miracles,  like  the  marvellous  feats  of  travellers,  are  always  great  and  marvellous,  in 
proportion  to  their  distance  of  time  and  place,  from  actual  inspection.  St.  Patrick, 
they  tell  us,  sailed  over  to  Ireland,  and  if  there  be  no  mistake,  once  also  to  England, 
on  a  mill-stone  !  And  thus  he  was  not  a  whit  behind  St.  Anthony.  We  are  told  that 
St.  Dennis  carried  his  own  head  under  his  arm  two  miles  after  it  was  cut  off.  "  St- 
Francis  of  Sales,"  says  Butler  in  his  lives  of  the  saints,  vol.  i.  p.  168,  "raised  the  dead; 
cured  the  palsy,  and  the  blind."  St.  Francis  of  Paula,  raised  from  the  dead  a  young 
man,  and  restored  him  to  his  mother.  Butler  i.  361.  St.  Francis,  the  founder  of  th« 
Francisians,  was  favored  with  visions,  and  revelations  of  an  apostolic  grandeur.  H« 
predicted  nothing  less  than  his  own  death  :  and  did  many  miracles  by  his  intercession, 
after  his  death.  Butler  and  St.  Bonaventure  affirm  this,  but  give  no  evidence,  and 
tell  us  not  how  they  knew  his  miracles  after  his  death.  Moreover,  he  had  a  vision  of  a 
seraph  with  six  wings :  this  presented  to  his  view  the  visible  crucified  body  of  Christ. 
And  the  effect  of  this  was,  that  the  said  seraph  "  caused  the  soul  of  St.  Francis  to  be 
utterly  inflamed  with  seraphic  ardor;  and  his  body  to  have,  and  to  retain  the  simi- 
lar wounds  of  Christ."  *'  His  hands  and  feet  wxre  pierced  through ;  and  the  holes 
seemed  to  retain  the  round  black  headed  nails  of  hard  flesh  in  his  palms  and  in 
his  fest.  And  their  long  paints  on  the  other  side,  were  turned  back,  as  if 
clenched  with  a  hammer.  And  in  his  left  side  there  was  a  red  wound,  as  if  made  by  a 
lance.  Pope  Alexander  IV.  had  the  felicity  of  witnessing  all  these :  and  to  give 
currency  and  stability  to  these  miraculous  and  ingenious  scratchings,  his  holines 
preached  a  sermon  on  the  occasion.  And  the  simple  faithful  believe  this  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  only  rule  of  faith:  and  worship  St.  Francis  of  Assissium,  as  another 
savior. 

St.  Wenefride  was  a  noble  lady  of  Wales.  Being  a  nun,  she  could  not  yield  to  the 
Buit  of  Caradoc,  the  young  prince.  Being  enraged  at  this,  he  pursued  her,  and  with  a 
cruel  blow  cut  off  her  head  This  originated  three  splendid  miracles,  which  taken 
together,  are  greater  than  any  recorded  in  the  holy  Bible.  In  the  1st  place  St.  Beuno 
interfered,  and  settled  the  career  of  the  young  villain.  He  made  the  earth  open  under 
his  feet,  and,  Korah  like,  he  was  sunk  down  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  Then  2d. 
On  the  spot  where  the  dead  nun's  head  fell,  a  well  opened,  and  poured  its  salutary 
streams;  and  that  "  Holy  Well"  works  miracles,  it  is  said,  until  this  day.  The  3d. 
St.  Beuno  took  up  the  nun's  head,  kissed  it;  placed  it  on  the  bleeding  stump;  covered 
it  with  his  mantle:  said  mass,  prayed  to  the  Virgin  Mary:  And  behold  St.  Wene- 
fride jumped  up,  perfectly  well ;  her  head  being  on  exactly  as  usual :  and  the  evidence 
of  the  cure  was  perpetuated  by  the  appearance  of  a  fine  circle,  hke  a  thread,  around 
her  neck; — that  being  the  place  where  the  head  and  neck  were  nicely  cemented 
together.  Apostles  and  prophets !  did  ye  ever  any  thing  to  match  this !  See  Butler's 
Lives,  &c. 


Roman  catholic  controversy.  109 

St.  David,  I  presume  the  king  of  Scotland,  who  builded  so  many  chapels  and 
tathedrals,  once  ordered  St.  Kired  to  come  to  a  Synod  on  weighty  business.  The 
saint  excused  himself  on  account  of  being  lame  and  crooked.  St.  David  immediately 
prayed  him  straight.  But  the  old  saint  still  lingering,  the  choleric  St.  David  forth- 
with prayed  him  crooked  and  lame  again,  to  teach  him  better  manners. 

St.  Patrick  in  the  Romish  legends,  receives  credit  and  saintly  homage  for  raising 
a  boy  from  the  dead  after  he  had  been  nearly  devoured  by  hogs.  And  on  an- 
other occasion  he  fed  14,000  people,  with  the  flesh  of  one  cow,  two  wild  boars,  and 
two  stags.  And  to  crown  the  miracle,  the  simple  faithful  assure  us  that  the  cow  wa« 
«een  alive  next  day,  grazing  in  the  pasture  field  as  usual. 

St.  Xavier  had  a  valuable  crucifix.  On  a  certain  day,  he  dropped  it  overboard, 
into  the  sea.  He  was  quite  inconsolable.  But,  it  came  to  pass,  that  as  he  was  walk- 
ing on  the  shore  in  the  land  whither  he  had  gone,  to  his  astonishment  and  indescribable 
joy,  he  saw  the  very  crucifix  he  had  lf>st  moving  towards  him  on  the  waves.  As  h« 
hastened  down  to  the  water's  edge,  behold,  it  was  very  reverently  and  devoutly  laid 
down  at  his  feet,  by  a  crab,  who  had  borne  it  through  the  deep,  miraculously,  to  the 
feet  of  the  holy  saint.  Dr.  Milner  speaking  of  St.  Xavier's  miracles  in  general,  says, 
that  "  they  were  verified  soon  after  the  saint's  death,  by  A'irtue  of  a  commission  from 
John  Ilf.  Kmg  of  Portugal."  See  Letter  24,  &c.  But,  as  a  writer  has  justly  observ- 
ed, it  was  no  miracle  of  St.  Xavier:  the  crab  has  the  whole  merit:  and  he  recom- 
mends him  to  his  Holiness'  notice  to  give  him  due  honors,  at  his  next  canonization. 
Palmam  qui  meruit,  ferat.     It  ought  to  be  St.  Crab. 

The  Roman  saints  were  particularly  successful  in  their  wrestlings,  and  coups  du 
main  with  the  devil,  and  his  demons.  On  one  occasion  St.  Philip  Nerius,  in  1555, 
«aw  a  person  near  the  baths  f)f  Diocletian  ;  and  as  he  seemed,  at  one  moment,  young, 
and  the  next  moment,  old,  the  saint  suspected  it  to  be  Satan,  at  some  of  his  tricks. 
Whereupon  he  summoned  him  *' in  the  name  of  Christ  to  discover  himself."  And 
instantly  the  devil  fled  in  great  precipitation,  leaving  a  loathsome  scent  in  the  place ; 
the  reverse  of  the  bones  of  the  saints*  And  hence  he  knew,  says  he,  that  it  wa* 
Satan.  Seethe  Acta  Sanct.  Tom.  6.  Antwerp  edit,  of  1688.  Mail.  26.  This  is  a 
famous  Roman  work,  full  of  similar  legends! 

St.  Francis  was  once  sorely  tempted  by  a  devil  in  the  form  of  a  lovely  female — an 
appalling  object,  you  know,  to  a  holij  Priest!  But,  one  evening,  as  he  again  assailed 
the  saint,  "he  spit  in  the  devil's  face."  The  Roman  historians  gravely  add, — bein^ 
"confounded  and  disgracefully  defeated,  the  devil  fled  !"     Acta  Sanct.  Supra. 

St.  Andrew  of  Salus,  was  once  assailed  by  the  devil,  armed  v^ith  an  axe,  and  aided 
by  several  demons  with  clubs  and  lances.  In  their  assault,  the  gallant  saint  invoked 
St.  John  the  Apostle.  Upon  this,  John  instantly  appeared,  in  the  form  of  an  old  man, 
and  putting  his  back  to  the  door,  to  prevent  all  egress,  he  ordered  the  holy  ones  who 
accompanied  him,  to  chain  down  each  of  the  devils,  and  with  the  chain  taken  from 
St.  Andrew's  neck,  to  scourge  them  thoroughly.  This  was  done  to  so  etlectual  a 
purpose  that  the  devils  cried  out  "Mercy!  mercy!  mercy!"  And  the  holy  St.  An- 
drew, it  is  added,  by  our  Roman  historians,  could  not  restrain  himself  from  bursting 
into  laughter, — "risu  correptus  est,'* — at  the  complete  belaborinc:  given  to  the^t 
unruly  fiends  ;  and  at  their  wild  screams.  See  Acta  Sanct.  Tom.  6.  Mail.  28. 

St.  Dominick,  while  sitting  in  his  dormitory,  writing  by  candle  light,  was  assailed 
by  the  devil  in  the  form  of  a  monkev,  strutting,  and  making  grimaces  before  him.  Ow 
this,  the  saint  ordered  him  to  come   forthwith,  and  hold  his  candle,  which,  without  -a 

11 


110  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

candlestick,  the  crafty  saint  put  into  the  demon's  hand.  Presently  the  candle  being 
burned  out,  the  devil's  fingers  began  to  be  scorched ;  and  he  wailed  and  howled 
hugely.  Nothing  moved  by  this,  the  saint  ordered  him  to  hold  on.  And  the  devil 
■was  compelled  to  hold  the  burning  flame,  until  his  forefinger  was  actually  consumed, 
unto  the  joint ;  "  usque  ad  juncturam  manus,  totus  crematus  est."  And  to  complete 
the  victory,  this  holy  founder  of  the  Dominicans,  gave  the  devil  a  smart  blow  with  his 
■walking  cane,  and  said,  "  Depart  thou  wicked  one."  The  blow  sounded  as  if  he  had 
struck  a  dry  bladder  full  of  wind.  "  Upon  this  the  devil  fled,  leaving  a  mighty  stench 
behind,  which  plainly  discovered  who  this  creature  was."  See  Acta  Amflior.  St. 
Dom.  August!.  14.  Finch  p.  410.  This,  you  know,  gentlemen,  is  a  morsel  of  your 
own  sober  history,  here  detailed. 

The  fanaticism  of  the  Roman  writers,  is  further  displayed  in  the  object  for  which 
they  hold  up  these  monstrous  figments,  and  diabolical  rencounters.  Hear  their  own 
words.  "  Truly  this  man  (St.  Dominick)  is  to  be  extolled  among  the  angelical 
powers,  who  so  powerfully  confounds  and  reproves  diabolical  wickedness." 

Finally,  not  only  have  men,  but  even  statues  and  images  wrought  miracles.  So 
late  as  1796  "  Official  Memoirs,'"  relative  to  "miraculous  events,"  were  published, 
and  signed,  and  authenticated  by  Dr.  Bray,  archbishop  of  Cashel,  and  Dr.  Troy, 
archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  twelve  other  dignitaries  of  the  Romish  church  of  Ireland. 
In  these  "  Memoirs"  it  is  stated  that  in  May,  1796,  at  Toricello,  a  torrent  of  tears  ran 
down  from  the  eyes  of  B.woodtn  Virgin  Mary  !  And  such  a  perspiration  flowed  from 
her,  as  to  wet  the  clothes  "■applied  hi)  the  faithful.'"'     Mem.  p.  217. 

On  July  9,  1796,  a  picture  called  Deile  Muratte,  was  observed  to  move  its  eyes  in  a 
miraculous  manner.  The  circular  movement  of  the  eyes  continued  for  many  months. 
The  result  of  this  was  the  procuring  of  many  gifts,  and  4arge  sums  of  money,  for  the 
Virgin  ;  and  a  marvellous  excitement  took  place ;  and  nothing  but  prayers  and  vows 
to  holy  Mary  was  heard.  Immense  crowds  of  devotees  were  constantly  before  the 
painting;  and  altars  were  every  where  erected  to  the  Virgin ;  and  a  prodigious  im- 
pulse given  by  this  lying  wonder,  to  the  Romish  devotion.  See  Oif.  Memoirs,  p.  35, 
and  Finch  p.  280,  231.     ' 

5th.  Doctrinal  scntimenis  and  rites  have  been  defined  and  settled  by  visions  and 
revelations,  in  the  Roman  catholic  church.  The  original  followers  of  St.  Francis 
were  frightful  fanatics.  The  holij  mission  of  this  saint  being  established  by  his  mi- 
racles, by  his  five  holy  wounds,  canonization,  and  the  miracles  achieved  by  him  after 
death,  and  by  his  intercession,  his  followers  were  prepared  to  receive  him,  as  a  second 
Jesus.  In  a  book  called  The  flowers  of  St.  Francis,  it  is  written,  "that  those  only 
were  saved  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  who  Uved  before  St.  Francis  ;  but  all  that  followed, 
were  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  St.  Francis  J''  See  Eymericus,  and  Wolfii.  Leot. 
Memor.  cent.  13.  See  also  Bishop  Stillingfleet,  on  the  idolatry  and  fanaticism  of  the 
Rom.  church,  p.  236.  And  the  votaries  of  this  man,  the  Franciscans,  in  the  words  of 
Petrus  Johannes,  made  the  rule  of  St.  Francis  equal,— nay  to  be  the  very  same  as 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  that  by  which  Christ  was  directed! 

The  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin,  long  distracted  "Holy 
Mother."  The  Franciscans  held  that  she  was  born  as  pure  as  an  angel;  and  I  find 
that  our  vicar  general.  Dr.  Power,  holds  this,  and  teaches  it  in  his  Manual  On  the 
contrary,  the  Dominicans  utterly  denied  it.  Who  was  to  settle  this?  "Deo  dignus 
vindice  nodus  !"  The  holy  Bible  says  nothing  of  her  immaculate  purity.  Besides, 
»  Holy  Mother"  denies  that  the  word  of  God  is  her  only  rule.     Auselm  produces  the 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  Ill 

evidence  of  an  apparition  in  a  storm  (a  very  fit  season  !)  to  some  Abbot;  this  vision 
announced  the  Virgin's  immaculate  purity,  and  admonished  all  good  men  to  keep  the 
feast  of  the  Conception.  One  Nerbertus  had  another  vision, — no  less  than  the  Holy 
Virg.n  herself  enforcing  the  same  thing.  St.  Gertrude  also  had  revelations  to  the 
same  purport;  then  St.  Bridget  brings  not  a  few,  but  many  revelations  to  the  same 
purport ;  and  lastly  Johanna  a  Cruce.  These  were  solemnly  declared  by  the  Doc- 
tors to  be  such  "  that  no  man  can  reject  them  unless  they  intend  to  be  as  great  heretics 
as  Erasmus  1"   The  Roman  catholic  Erasmus!  Eheu! 

But  unfortunately,  fanaticism  stops  not  always  on  the  right  side:  that  is  to  say— 
your  side,  gentlemen,  who  believe  in  "  the  immaculate  Conception."  For  while 
Baronius  gives  us  the  above  details,  Antonius  and  Cajetan  assure  us  that  St.  Catha- 
rine had  a  holy  vision  and  a  holy  revelation ;  and  it  was  told  her  by  a  spirit  of  hea- 
ven, that  the  Virgin  was  conceived  in  original  sin  like  all  other  people  ?  Great  names 
condemned  St.  Bridget's  visions.  Cajetan,  for  instance,  calls  them  "old  wives'  fables 
and  dreams  !" — Sit  fas  loqui !  But  she  was  approved  by  doctors,  and  cardinals:  and 
her  visions  and  revelations  declared  to  be  divine,  by  pope  Boniface  IX.,  who  accord- 
ingly, enrolled  her  among  the  saints,  and  other  idols  worshipped  in  your  church.  But 
after  all,  "Holy  Mother"  gives  each  of  them  fair  play,  as  Bishop  Stillingfleet  justly 
observes.  She  approves  the  revelations  of  both :  pronounces  the  authors  of  the  con- 
tradictory revelations  both  equally  inspired  by  God  !  And  in  the  Roman  Breviary, 
on  the  8th  of  October,  you  worship  St.  Bridget;  and  in  your  prayers  to  her,  "  confess 
these  revelations  to  have  come  immediately  from  God  to  her.''^  And  in  one  of  the  lessons 
for  that  day,  you  devoutly  "  magnify  the  multitude  of  her  divim  revelations.''^  And  in 
the  Roman  Breviary,  April  30,  you  magnify  the  saintess  who  opposed  the  Immac-^ 
ulate  Conception,  as  much  as  its  heroine.  St.  Catharine's  "  holy  ecstacies,''  are  glori- 
fied in  the  lesson  of  the  day;  and  you  adore  piously  "the  five  ra3's  coming  froin  the 
five  wounds  of  Christ,  making  five  miraculous  marks  on  the  correspondent  parts  of 
her  sacred  body,  namely,  hands  feet,  and  side !  Dr.  Power  yields  his  solemn  faith  to 
St.  Bridget.  Pray,  to  whom  do  Mr.  Levins,  and  Dr.  Varela  yield  the  simple  faith  of 
their  pious  souls  ? 

6th.  The  great  monkish  orders  of  your  sect  have  been  founded  by  fanatics,  in  their 
raving  fanaticism.  First,  the  Carthusians  were  founded  by  St.  Bruno  ;  he  was  guided 
to  the  spot  where  he  founded  his  monaster}^  by  a  vision  of  seven  stars  vouchsafed  to 
his  coadjutor  St  Hugo.  " Many  miracles  after  his  death,"  says  Butler, — "attested 
his  sanctity  and  favor  with  God."  Lives  of  the  Saints  ii.  459,  &c.  The  manner  of 
St.  Bruno's  conversion  as  narrated  by  no  less  than  sixty  Roman  catholic  writers,  indi- 
cates that  he  commenced  his  career  in  fanaticism.  He  was  standing  by  when  the 
funeral  service  was  being  said  over  a  priest ;  when  the  dead  man  started  up,  and  said, 
"By  the  just  judgment  of  God  I  am  damned!"  Having  said  this,  he  instantly  died 
again.     By  this  was  St.  Bruno  converted  ! — Launoy  De  causa  Sue.  Brun.  c.  v. 

Second.  The  Benedictines  were  founded  by  St.  Benedict.  This  Roman  worthy 
was  favored  with  an  incredible  variety  of  visions  and  revelations.  He  predicted  mar- 
vellous events,  and  wrought  many  miracles.  The  thorns  and  brambles  on  which  he 
rolled,  in  order  to  expel  his  raging  lusts,  grew  up,  and  had  the  honor  of  having  St. 
Francis  to  engraft  roses  on  them,  which  always  bloomed  in  winter.  When  a  boy  fell 
into  the  river,  he  foresaw  it  while  in  his  cave :  sent  his  servant,  who  walked  on  the 
water  some  distance,  and  pulled  the  boy  out.  When  some  wicked  persons  brought  him 
poisoned  drink,  he  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  it,  and  the  vessel  burst  into  a  thou- 


112  ROMA?f     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST. 

sand  pieces.  He  was  so  sharp-sighted  that  he  could  see  spirits.  He  alone  saw  "the 
little  black  devil  which  led  away  a  monk  from  prayers."  I  am  soberly  quoting  your 
writer's  own  words,  gentlemen.  He  saw  his  sister's  soul  enter  heaven  in  the  shape  of 
a  dove;  and  that  of  the  good  bishop  of  Capua,  in  a  fiery  circle  I  And,  finally,  "he 
was  rapt  up  into  heaven,  and  saw  God  face  to  face."  See  Butler.  Bollandi  Acta  Sanct. 
Fit.  Bened.  Stilling,  p.  263,  &c. 

Third.  The  Dominicans  were  founded  by  St.  Dominick,  whose  character,  as  an 
extravagant  fanatic,  we  have  already  noticed.  He  had  his  first  meeting  with  St. 
Francis  at  Rome ;  and  there  he  made  known  his  modest  and  spiritual  vision,  namely, 
"  that  Christ  was  just  coming  to  destroy  the  wicked  world  ;  but  his  mother,  the  Vir- 
£:in,  stopped  him,  and  informed  him  that  she  had  famous  servants  who  were  to  reform 
the  world;  he  himself  was  one  whom  the  Lord  approved  as  one  who  would  do  thii 
work,"  &c.  See  Rainald,  A.  D.  1216,  n.  48.  Stilling,  p.  273.  Wolfius,  in  his 
Lect.  Memor.  cent.  13.  p.  509,  tells  us  of  the  statues  set  up  in  St.  Mark's  church  at 
Venice;  one  of  St.  Paul,  with  this  inscription:  "By  him  we  go  to  Christ  :"  the 
other,  a  statue  of  St.  Dominick,  with  this  modest  Roman  inscription:  "By  him 
we  go  easier  to  Christ!"  His  order  was,  in  all  respects,  worthy  of  such  a  founder; 
they  w^ere,  as  Stillingfleet  says,  "the  most  blasphemous  enthusiasts  the  world  ever 
saw." 

Fourth.  The  Franciscans  were  founded  by  the  companion  of  the  last  named  fana- 
tic, and  was  'personally  more  of  a  fanatic  than  St.  Dominick.  St.  Bonaventure 
declared  on  oath  that  Christ  revealed  it  to  him,  that  by  "the  angel  ascending  out  of 
the  east,  having  the  seal  of  the  hving  God,"  St.  John  meant  no  other  than  St. 
Francis.  And  this  is  the  audacious  motto  under  his  picture,  and  is  applied  the  same 
way,  by  pope  Leo  X.  St.  Francis  "had  no  teacher  but  Christ;  and  learned  all  by  an 
immediate  revelation."  He  also  heard  an  instructive  voice  issuing  from  a  cnicifixr. 
Even  the  pope  had  a  revelation  approving  him,  after  he  had  been  disposed  to  reject 
o-ood  St.  Francis.  This  revelation  satisfied  his  holiness'  mind  ;  and  he  approved  of 
the  order  of  the  Franciscans.  See  Bonavent.  Lifeof  St.  Francis,  cap.  iii.  sec.  1,7. 
Stilling,  p.  272.  St.  Bridget  had  solemn  vision  of  him:  namely,  that  the  "Fran- 
ciscan rule  was  not  composed  by  the  wisdom  of  men,  but  by  God  himself;  nay  that 
every  word  in  it  was  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  "  And  this,"  says  this  Roman 
prophetess,  "  is  the  case  with  all  the  religious  orders."  Bridgittae  Revel.  L.  7  cap. 
20.  p.  559,  vol.  1.     Still  p.  27.3. 

Fifth.  The  Carmelites.  Launoy,  in  his  book  "  De  Vis.  Sim.  Stocki.  cap.  1.'* 
declares  that  Simon  Stockius  had  a  heavenly  vision  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  in  which 
she  imparts  to  him  what  was  befitting  respecting  the  branch  of  Mendicants  called 
Carmelites.  And  such  was  the  marvellous  condescension  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  that 
upon  Simon's  devout  prayers  to  her,  she  appeared  to  him  with  the  very  habit  and 
fasion  of  dress  which  she  would  have  them  wear.  And  what  crowns  the  whole 
with  a  peculiar  glory,  she  gave,  says  Launoy,  a  promise  greater  than  any  that  her  son 
Christ  had  ever  given  :  namely,  "  that  ichosoever  died  in  that  hahit,  should  not  perish 
in  hell P'     Precious  garment !     Precious  Carmelilism! 

Sixth.  Even  Jansenists  had  recourse  to  an  attempt  at  the  miraculous ;  but  they 
only  met  with  a  prompt  exposure,  and  a  sad  overthrow.     See  Mosheim  V.  209  : 

Seventh.  Jesuitism  was  founded  and  organized  by  a  fanatic  not  surpassed  by  Moham- 
med, or  even  St.  Francis.  This  was  Ignatius  Loyola.  He  had  been  a  soldier,  and 
^as  lamed  in  battle.     He  was  a  most  illiterate  creature.     But  this  did  not  stand  in  the 


ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  113 

way  of  visions  and  revelations.  I  shall  copy  a  few  specimens  from  the  Roman 
catholic  authors  Maffeius,  Ribadeneira,  and  Orlandino.  St.  Peter,  say  these  writers, 
"appeared  unto  him  before  he  was  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  read."  In  a  fit  of 
zeal  he  made  a  solemn  vow  of  himself  to  be  a  knight  of  the  Virgin.  He  made  this 
vow  on  his  knees  before  her  image.  At  that  moment  the  room  shook  ;  the  window 
glasses  were  broken ;  and  a  dreadful  noise  took  place.  "  An  argument,"  says  Orlan- 
dino, with  solemnity,  "  that  the  devil  then  took  leave  of  him."  A  point  of  very  ques- 
tionable uncertainty.  It  is  more  likely  that  the  said  personage  was  making  an  ingress* 
rather  than  an  egress  at  this  moment;  if  we  may  judge  from  the  future  horrid  con- 
vulsions of  all  Europe,  by  his  pious  followers,  the  Jesuits.  Some  time  after  this,  the 
Virgin  appeared  with  great  glory  about  her,  and  her  babe  in  her  lap.  What  Virgin — 
by  the  way, — could  this  be  ?  And  what  babe  ?  Could  the  man,  absolutely  insane  as 
he  was,  mean  the  glorified  Redeemer,  Jesus  Christ?  Ignatius  was  now  fully  clothed, 
on  a  model  given  by  a  divine  trance.  This  fanatic  had  a  long  coat  of  hair  cloth ;  a 
bag  of  water  in  one  hand ;  a  crab  tree  staff  in  the  other  ;  he  was  girded  with  an  iron 
girdle,  bare  headed ;  with  a  wicker  shoe  on  one  foot;  the  other  bare.  He  had  a  vision 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  certain  most  wonderful  communications.  At  another  time  be 
had  "a  vision  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  under  a  corporeal  representation."  In  one 
trance  he  continued  eight  days;  during  which,-^blessed  vision  for  the  benefit,  peace, 
and  happiness  of  mankind;  he  saw  the  frame  and  model  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, — • 
says  Orlando  L-  i.  28.  In  another  trance  he  saw  God  the  father  commending  St, 
Ignatius,  (that  is  himself)  to  his  Son  Jesus  Christ;  who  very  kindly  received  him  and 
said  with  a  smile,  "/  will  he  favorable  to  thee  at  Rome!''''  Ribadeneira  was  piesent  at 
Rome,  when  this  was  told  in  a  domestic  conference  of  the  grave  fathers  of  Rome  ; 
and  he  records  it  with  all  becoming  and  suitable  gravity.  See  Butler's  Lives  of  the 
Saints,  Art.  St.  Ignat.  vol.  ii.  p.  262.  Dubl.  edit. 

7th.  The  leading  ceremonies  and  rites  of  Romanism  are  founded  in  sheer  fanati- 
cism. That  is  to  say,  these  gradually  crept  in  by  designing  men,  as  we  showed  in 
Letter  VIII ;  but  they  were  finally  established,  as  articles  of  faith  of  the  "  simple  be- 
lievers," by  visions  and  miraculous  displays.     For  instance : — 

Istly.  The  making  of  the  sign  of  the  Cross  is  a  grand  characteristic  of  Popery. 
Miracles  have  followed  this  making  of  the  sign  of  the  cross.  We  have  seen 
already,  that  a  saint  discovered  poisoned  drink  by  making  the  mystic  sign  over  the 
vessel;  and  the  poisoned  cup  flew  into  a  thousand  fragments.  "St.  Walthen  was 
haunted  at  prayers  by  the  devil,  first,  in  the  shape  of  a  mouse," — I  am  quoting  gravely, 
gentlemen,  from  your  Acta  Sanct.  3  Aug.  Tom.  i. — "then  in  the  form  of  a  pig,  a 
harking  dog ;  then  a  wolf;  and  lastly  of  a  roaring  long  horned  hull!''''  But  upon  his 
making  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  all  comfortably  vanished  in  a  trice.  See  Finch 
p.  415.     Acta  Sanct.  Aug.  3.  Tom.  i.  264. 

2dly.  Purgatory  was  a  doctrine  hard  to  be  established;  it  cost  many  a  vision, 
many  a  dream,  many  a  fanatical  revelation.  Witness  St.  Gregory's  revelation,  deliver^- 
ing  the  soul  of  Trajan  from  the  fires  thereof.  St.  Benedict  saw  the  soul  of  Gcrmaiiu3 
escape  out  of  it,  and  reach  heaven.  St.  Ignatius  saw  the  soul  of  Hosias,  one  of  the 
Jesuits,  escape,  and  get  to  glory,  a  tough  job! — Maff".  Lib.  2.  cap.  12.  Still,  p.  323, 
St.  Bridget  had  a  revelation  to  the  same  purport  with  that  of  St.  Gregory  :  as  certified 
by  Salmer.  Disp.  27.  and  Baron.  Annal.  604.  N.  59.  St.  Mathildis  also  was  success- 
ful this  way.     See  Bellarm.  De  Purgat.  1.  2.  cap.  8.  Stilling.  251. 

3dly.  Bellarmlae  in  a  very  gallant  manner  proves  Auricular  Confession,  by  a  cer- 

11* 


114  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

tain  vision  of  a  tall  and  terribly  fierce  man,  with  a  book  in  his  hand,  who  blotted  out 
instantly,  all  the  sins  which  the  humble  thief  confessed  to  the  priest,  upon  his  knees." 
Bell.  De  Prenit.  1.  3.  cap.  12.  Stilhng.  p.  252. 

4thly.  It  will  puzzle  any  of  our  priests  to  name  one  saint,  or  saintess,  who  has  been 
beatified,  and  canonized,  without  the  evidence  of  an  apparition,  a  vision,  a  revelation, 
or  a  miracle,  sufficient  to  satisfy  his  Holiness's  conscience,  in  conferring  the  ghostly 
honor  !  In  proof  of  this,  just  let  any  one  turn  up  Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints  ;  and 
he  will  see  on  almost  every  page,  the  clearest  evidence  of  what  we  now  assert. 

5thl3^  The  feast  of  the  apparition  of  the  Archangel  Michael,  is  constantly  observed 
at  Rome  with  extraordinary  Romish  devotion.  This  was  originated,  and  established 
to  the  "simple  faithful"  by  a  revelation  vouchsafed  to  the  Bishop  of  Sponto,  and  a 
vision  seen  at  the  same  time  by  a  few  drovers  on  the  mountain  Garganus.  See  Legat. 
Decoucep.  V.  Mar.  sect.  3.  p.  371.  Stillingfleet,  p.  253,  256.— Ronj.  Brev.  May  8. 

6thly.  The  long  -and  troublesome  controversy  touching  Easter  Day  was  conve- 
niently and  quietly  settled,  in  the  Roman  church,  b}''  a  revelation  kindly  granted  by 
some  invisible  agent,  or  other,  to  Hermes.     See  Legat.  De  concept.  &c.  ut  upra. 

7thl3^  The  festival  of  Corpus  Christi  was  instituted  by  Pope  Urban  IV.  in  order 
to  confound  all  gainsayers  against  Transubstantiation  and  the  Mass.  This  famous 
festival  was  originated  by  a  revelation  granted  by  some  being,  or  other,  to  Mother 
Juliana,  of  immortal  memory  with  you,  gentlemen.  This  same  3Iother  Juliana  was 
no  common  crone.  I  shall  quote  from  your  writer  Bzovius  Annal.  Tom.  13.  Anno. 
1230.  N.  16 ;  and  Still,  p.  254.  "  She  had  raptures,  exstacies,  and  prophecies."  She 
was  so  sharp  at  discerning  things  invisible,  that  she  knew  people's  thoughts  :  "  She 
wrestled  with  devils,  discoursed  with  apostles,  and  wrought  many  miracles."  In  all 
her  visions,  she  ever  and  anon  saw  the  full  moon,  '■'with  a  snip  talcen  from  her  round- 
ness!^^ For  twenty  years  she  wrestled  with  the  invisible  powers,  with  all  the  charac- 
teristic curiosity  of  a  female,  to  discover  what  this  same  '■'■  snif  could  possibly  typify. 
This  vision  she  revealed  to  De  Lausanna,  who  told  it  to  De  Trecis,  who  was  after- 
wards Pope  Urban  IV.  All  could  not  discover  what  this  same  "sm'2>"  on  the  moon's 
circular  edge  indicated.  It  was  something  involving  the  interests  of  "  Holy  Mother 
Church."  Of  this  mother  Juliana  was  most  sure  :  but  still  what  that  was, — she  could 
not  read  from  her  mystic  lore.  But  two  prophetesses  can  make  marvellous  discove- 
ries. Mother  Isabella  came,  apropos,  to  her  aid.  She  too  had  a  vision.  And  say  Dies- 
temius,  and  Binius, — "  This  Isabella  was  so  much  intoxicated  by  her  vision,  that,  out 
of  the  abundance  of  her  spiritual  drunkenness"  (these  are  the  Roman  writer's  own 
words,)  "she  declared  that  she  would  promote  the  Holy  Feast,  although  the  whole 
world  should  oppose  her."  This  same  feast  o^  Corpus  Christi,  and  solemn  proces- 
sion of  the  "Bread  made  god,"  through  the  streets,  with  "devout  ruffians"  in  front, 
with  caibines,  to  knock  down  all  who  refused  the  new  breaden  god, — the  Creator, 
created  by  the  priest,  in  the  Mass, — this  sam^e  feast  was  mother  Juliana's  "snip"  in 
the  edge  of  the  moon.  This  holy  festival  being  instituted,  the  moon  was  henceforth 
round  as  a  perfect  circle,  and  all  is  complete!  Such  is  the  edifying  origin  of  Corpus 
Christi!  How  much  you  owe  to  Mother  Juliana,  and  the  moon's  snip;  and  the 
.simple  devotion  of  Urban  IV.  In  addition  to  Bzovius,  see  Diestcmius  Blasrus, 
Arnoldus  Bostius,  Petr.  Procmonstratensis,  Vignier,  and  Molanus.  Also  Still,  p. 
256,  257. 

Lastly;  indulge  me  in  one  instance  more.  Your  sanctum  sanctorum,  and  un- 
inatched    peculiarity   of  the  Mass,  was  established  by  fanatical  revelations.     This 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  115 

precious  morsel  of  Romish  fanaticism,  shall  claim  our  attention  in  due  time.  At 
present  I  allude  to  tlie  wild  fanaticism  by  which  it  was  established,  gradually  as  an 
article  of  faith  of  the  "  faithful."  This  corner  stone  of  Popery  had  a  prodigious  variety 
of  revelations  and  miracles  to  establish  it.     I  shall  select  an  instance  or  two. 

Bellarmine  De  Sacr.  Euchar.  Lib.  3.  cap.  8.  narrates  several  miracles.  In  one 
instance,  says  he,  instead  of  bread,  real  flesh  was  seen;  that  is  to  say,  the  loaf,  or 
wafers,  were  converted  not  invisibly,  as  now  a  days,  by  half  a  miracle  with  you;  but 
visibly,  and  really,  and  truly, — into  true  Jlesh  !  He  does  not  say  whether  human  or 
bestial  flesh.  In  another  instance,  says  he,  instead  of  the  wafer,  Christ  was  seen, 
bonajide,  "in  the  form  of  a  child."  But  why  a  child,  it  is  impossible  for  us  heretic* 
even  to  conjecture.  They  cannot  mean  our  glorified  Lord.  Roman  priests  only 
can  explain  this  mystery  of  popery. 

But  all  these  are  comparatively  trivial  affairs  to  the  devotion  and  faith  of  a  heretics 
horse !  Miserable  heretics  are  all  Protestants,  when  even  a  horse  bows  down  and 
adores  "the  breaden  god."  I  quote  this  from  no  less  a  man  than  your  own  Bellar- 
mine, wlio  solemnly  relates  it  as  sober  history  in  his  book  De  Sac.  Euchar.  Lib.  3 
cap.  8.  St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  had  once  an  encounter  with  a  heretic,  an  Albigensian, 
touching  the  change  of  the  wafer  into  Christ's  flesh.  "1  have  a  horse,"  says  th« 
heretic, — "  to  whom  I  shall  give  nothing  for  three  days.  On  the  third  day  do  you 
come  with  the  Host;  and  I  shall  come  whh  the  liorse.  I  shall  pour  out  some  corn  to 
him ;  but  if  he  foisake  his  corn,  and  go  and  venerate  the  Host,  then  shall  I  believe." 
On  the  day  appointed  all  the  parties  came.  And  St.  Anthony  in  a  truly  saint  like 
manner,  addressed  a  suitable  and  eloquent  word  of  exhortation  to  the  horse. 

"  In  the  virtue,  and  in  the  name  of  thy  Creator,  whom  I  truly  hold  in  my  hand," 
•ays  he, — "I  command  and  enjoin  thee,  O  horse,  to  come,  and  with  humility, revere 
him."  "No  sooner  were  the  words  uttered,"  says  the  grave  Bellarmine,  "  than  the 
horse  unmindful  of  his  corn  hastens  towards  the  Host,  in  the  priest's  hand  ;  inclining 
his  head,  and  devoutly  kneeling  on  his  fore  feet,  he  adored  his  Lord  in  the  best  manner 
he  could,  and  confuted  the  heretic."     See  also  Finch  p.  .343. 

This  really  crowns  the  loftiest  climax  of  all  the  specimens  oi  fanaticism  extant. 
A  priest  creating  his  Creator  out  of  bread.  A  horse  sensibly  listening  to  an  exhort- 
ation. A  horse  devoutly  bowing  down  on  his  knees,  and  worshipping  his  maker,  in  a 
bit  of  wafer.  And  what  is  most  amazmg  of  all, — a  priest, — a  rational  being  believing 
all  this.  I  am,  gentlemen,  yours,  &c. 

June  4,  1833.  W.  B.  C. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PRIESTS'  LETTER  X. 

It  opens  with  a  descant  on  the  cares,  troubles,  and  disasters  of  life,  with  some  sentiraen- 
talism  about  one's  rising  above  them.  "  But  in  mental  collisions,  defeat  is  followed  by  the 
worm  that  never  c-ies  !" 

It  is,  therefore,  with  the  priest,  a  very  serious  matter  to  engage  in  polemics  ;  it  is  vie- 
tory, — or  no  less  than  perdition  ! 

"  Dr.  B.'s  defeat  is  obvious;  it  is  admitted  even  by  the  most  prejudiced  among  the  elUe 
of  his  flock  !  Hence  his  acerbity  of  temper,  and  his  recklessness  of  truth  !  Our  Victory 
•ver  you  excites  no  stirrings  of  vanity,  for  it  has  been  too  easily  won  !  This  is  not  writ- 
ten in  the  way  of  boast!     Some  concession  must  be  made  to  the  irritability  of  a  mind 


116  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

writhino-  under  the  torturing  vexation  of  defeat — so  as  to  cause  forgetfulness  of  your  sta- 
tion,  as  an  interpreter  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost  T' 

"  Do  you  believe  the  tales  of  which  your  last  letter  is  formed  to  be  any  portion  of  Catho- 
lic creed?  Do  you  imagine  Catholics  will  admit  your  malignant  fictions,  while  they  mock 
and  reject  the  dreamy  legends  of  the  visionary  among  their  own  silly  writers?" 

"  Your  rule  of  faith,  your  ''  matter  of  infinite  importance,"  is  abandoned.  Your  theme 
now  is  farcical  carricature  of  Catholic  doctrine." 

"  Wc  claim  the  protection  of  the  great  Dr.  Johnson,  who  says  :  'The  diversion  of  baiting 
an  author  has  the  sanction  of  all  ages  and  nations,  and  is  more  lawful  than  the  sport  of  teas- 
ing other  animals,  because  for  the  most  part,  he  comes  voluntary  to  the  stake.'  You  cama 
voluntary  to  the  stake.^* 

**  '  The  Bible  alone,'  the  preacher  says,  '  is  the  rule  of  faith  of  every  Protestant.* 
He  believes,  as  an  article  of  faith,  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible,  but  this  inspiration  cannot 
be  proved  from  ihe  Bible,  therefore,  he  admits  an  article  of  faith  not  derived  from  the  Bible  : 
therefore,  the  Bible  alone  is  not  his  only  rule  of  faith  ;  therefore,  he  contradicts  himself; 
and,  therefore,  the  Bible  alone  is  not  a  sufficient  guide  to  a  future  world.  This  has  not 
been  refuted." 

Note  : — Cvery  one  must  perceive  that  this  often  repeated  objection  against  the  only  rule 
of  faith,  is  founded  in  a  play  upon  the  double  sense  in  which  the  word  faith  is  taken  in  holy 
writ.  Jude  says  :  '*  earnestly  contend  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints  ;  ver.  3. 
Here  faith  signifies  the  system  of  gospel  doctrines.  Again:  "we  are  juslfied  by  faith," 
Here  it  means  the  exercise  of  the  soul,  by  which  we  receive  Christ  Jesus,  and  walk  in 
him. 

But  the  priests,  by  reason  of  their  defective  education,  confound  these  two.  We  say, 
*'thc  scriptures  are  the  only  and  perfect  rule  of  faith."  That  is,  it  contains  in  it  every  thing 
necessary  to  he  known  and  believed,  for  our  salvation.  But,  then,  that  faith,  by  which  we  re- 
ceive these  doctrines,  and  all  the  evidence  of  them,  is  not  in  the  Bible  ;  it  is  in  the  mind  of 
the  believer,  like  every  other  mental  act.  Yet  the  priests,  in  the  most  ludicrous  manner, 
insist  that  unless  '•'■  mental  faith'''  be  found  '*  in  the  Bible's  system  of  faith,''''  the  scriptures  can- 
not be  the  only  rule  of  faith  ! 

Next  follows  the  endless  repetitions  about  Luther  ;  and  the  rejected  epistle  of  Jamea ; 
and  the  loss  of  some  twenty  books  of  scripture;  and  about  John  Wesley  ;  and  the  tradi- 
tions; and  the  genuine  copy  of  the  fathers  ;  and  the  change  of  the  Sabbath  ;  and  the 
utter  failure  of  Dr.  B.'s  proof  of  the  ru'e;  and  his  Nestorianism ;  and  his  blasphemy  in 
denying  ihat  the  woman  Mary  is  the  mother  of  God  ! 

'•  From  the  scriptures  themselves  it  is  not  difficult  to  prove  that  they  cannot  be  the  Judge 
of  controversy.  Common  sense  tells  us,  we  must  distinguish  between  the  letter  of  the 
scriptures,  and  the  sense  of  the  scriptures.     St.  Paul,  2  Cor.  iii.  6,  marks  this  distinction, 

*  the  letter,'  says  the  apostle,  "killeth,  but  the  spirit  quickeneth." 

*'  Rev.  Sir,  we  say  that  the  scriptures,  if  we  regard  the  bare  letter,  cannot  possibly  be 
the  judge  of  controversies.  We  also  say,  the  scripture,  even  if  we  regard  its  meaning, 
cannot  be  the  judge  of  controversy  ;  and  we  call  on  the  christian  public  to  mark  our  proofs 
of  these    assertions,  and    the   delusion  you  labor  under,  in  holding  the  scriptures  to  be 

*  your  only  rule  of  faith  and  judge  of  controversy.'  That  the  scriptures  cannot  be  our 
judge  of  controversy,  if  we  regard  the  bare  letter  is  thus  proved.  That  which  leads  men 
into  heresy  and  error,  cannot  be  the  infallible  judge  of  all  controversies;  but  the  scriptures, 
if  we  respect  its  bare  letter,  leads  men  into  error  and  heresy,  therefore,  it  cannot  be  the 
infallible  judge  of  controversies.  The  major  proposition  of  this  syllogism  is  self  evident. 
The  minor  is  proved  by  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  '  the  letter  killeth,'  as  much  as  to  say  it 
leadeth  us  into  error."    "  The  letter  killed"  the  Jews;  and  it  "  killed  the  heretics." 

Notes  : — 1.  Here  is  another  painful  instance  of  our  priests  very  defective  education.  By 
*'the  letter  that  killeth"  they  actually  mean  the  scriptures  taken  literally  !    Need  I  say  that 


R03IAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 


117 


«  the  letter  that  killeth"  is  the  law  and  broken  covenant  uttering  its  curse,  including  the  bur- 
dens and  curses  of  the  legal  dispensation  of  Moses,  which  is  now  done  away?  And  it  is 
contrasted  with  "the  spirit  that  giveth  life,"  that  is,  the  gospel  dispensation.  Hence,  in 
reasoning  against  the  holy  scriptures  from  this  text  of''  the  letter,"  the  priests  really  leave 
out  all  the  gospel  of  Christ  from  our  rule! 

2.  They  assert  that  "  the  scripture," — in  other  words,  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  in  it, — 
"leads  into  error  and  heresy  '." 

3.  they  charge  upon  the  Bible,  and  upon  the  Holy  Ghost,  all  the  sin,  perverseness,  and 
heresy  of  the  wicked  children  of  men.  That  is,  because  the  blind  man  cannot  see, — there- 
fore, the  clear  shining  sun  is  in  fault ;  because  the  mechanic,  when  intoxicated,  canno-t 
use  with  skill,  the  correct  instruments  of  his  craft,  therefore,  the  error  and  consequent 
mischief  are  owing,  entirely,  to  the  instruments,  and  to  him  who  made  them  perfect! 

4.  The  sentence  of  God's  law  uttered  on  us  is  -'•the  letter  that  killeth.''  See  Rom.  VH.  9. 
This  sentence  of  God  on  guilty  sinners,  the  priests  say,  is  ''  as  much  as  to  say  that  it  leads 
us  into  error"  !  That  is,  when  the  law  "  kills"  the  murderer ;  and  the  judge  utters  its  sen- 
tence on  him,  it  is  as  much  as  to  say,  they  lead  him  into  error  ! 

5.  They  maintain  that  "  even  if  we  regard  its  meaning," — that  is,  even  if  we  take  up  its 
spirit,  and  hear  correctly  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  unto  us, — "it  is  still  not  our  rule"  !l 
This  is  the  consummation  of  deism,  and  its  necessary  consequence,  heaven-daring  impiety 
And  it  is  not  simply  a  mistake  of  our  priests  personally.  It  is  originated  necessarily  by 
the  essential  doctrines  of  popery.     But  we  go  on 

"  The  Scriptures  are  often  obscure  and  hard  to  be  understood.  Out  of  this  obscurity 
many  controversies  arise  as  to  their  true  meaning.  There  must  be  some  judge  to  deter- 
mine their  true  meaning." 

"But  common  sense  tells  us,  this  judge  must  be  distinct  from  the  Scriptures,  for  the 
Scripture  itself,  which  is  obscure,  cannot  determine  its  own  meaning.  To  deny  that  the 
Scriptures  are  obscure  and  hard  to  be  understood,  would.  Rev.  Sir,  '  argue  a  derangement 
in  the  moral  faculty  :'  in  truth,  it  would  argue  more,  it  would  savor  of  infidelity.  It 
would  certainly  be  unscriptural,  after  Saint  Peter  telhng  us,  that  in  the  epistles  of  Saint 
Paul,  there  were  '  many  things  mard  to  be  understood.'  Now,  Rev.  Doctor,  we  humbly 
submit,  that  whatever  is  '•  hard  to  be  understood  is  ol)scure."' 

Then  they  adduce  instances  of  their  obscurity  :  from  their  manner,  and  from  their  7??flHcr: 
«  they  are  full  of  figures,  allegories,  and  parallels:"  "there  are  prophetical  passages  :  and 
many  apparent  contradictions."  '  Hence  the  Bible  is  a  very  obscure  book  :'  and  common 
sense  tells  us,  that  a  judge,  whose  decisions  are  so  obscure  as  to  leave  room  foi  controversy, 
is  extremely  unfit  for  his  office.  We  are  convinced  that  such  a  judge  would  never  be 
appointed,  or  sanctioned  by  our  Divine  and  All-wise  Legislator." 

"■  Finally,  they  arrived  at  this  conclusion  :— *  You  have  no  Scripture  for  the  canonicity 
of  the  Scriptures  ;  therefore,  you  cannot  believe  the  Scriptures  to  be  canonical :  there- 
fore your  Rule  of  Faith  leads  to  downright  Deism,'  " 

Notes  :— 1.  Here  men's  folly  and  guilt,  "who  refuse  to  be  taught,"  are  wholly  palliated; 
and  the  entire  blame  rolled  over  on  the  unoffending  Bible.  "The  unlearned  and  unslables 
are  those  whom  the  apostle  marks  as  "  wresters,"  of  the  scriptures:  and  the  originators 
of  error.  Yet,  instead  of  bringing  "the  unlearned"  into  the  correcting  influence  of  the 
true  learning  ;  instead  of  bringing  "the  unstable"  under  the  hallowing  restraints  of  sound 
mental,  and  christian  discipline,  they  cry  out  against  the  Holy  Bib\e,—'' Aicny  with  it  f 
Away  with  it !  Not  this,  but  Barabbasfor  our  judge  !  Crucify  it !  Crucify  it !  It  originates  all 
eontroversiis,  errors,  and  fieresies  ! 

2,  They  studiously  keep  out  of  view  the  doctrine  which  we  have  taken  pains,  distinctly 
and  often,  to  state;  namely,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  in  the  Bible  is  the  oni^y 
JUDGE  of  controversy.  And  the  Scriptures  are  as  distinct  from  this  judge,  as  a  word  from 
its  speaker.     Now,  can  he  be  a  christian  man  and  have  the  fear  of  the  Holy  Ghost  before 


118  EOMAN  CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

his  eyes,  who  ventures  in  the  face  of  heaven,  to  say  that  the  Holy  One  who  "  leads  us  into 
all  triilli,'"  cannot  determine  his  own  meaning;  cannot  convey  clearly  jiis  own  mind  and 
will, by  his  own  inspired  word?"  If  controversy  arise,  is  it  the  fault  of  the  Holy  One,  or 
the  perverse  will  of  impious  men  ?  If  men  wander  deliberately  into  error,  is  it  not  because 
the  sons  of  darkness  hate  the  holy  light  of  heaven,  and  choose  the  guidance  of  corrupt 
reason  ?  If  men  do  not  see,  and  do  not  understand,  is  the  Bible,  is  the  Holy  Ghost  under 
any  bond  of  obligation  to  furnish  eyes,  and  brains  to  rebels  perpetrating  high  treason 
against  Heaven  ? 

No  intelligent  and  candid  Protestant  or  Roman  catholic,  has  ever  complained  of  the 
obscurity  of  the  Bible's  doctrines  of  salvation.  And  all  the  world  knows  that  if  the 
Romish  priests  could  find  popery  in  the  Bible,  it  would  instantly  become  one  of  the  plain- 
est and  most  luminous  books  in  the  world  ! 

3.  They  are  here  chargeable  with  a  characteristic  imposition.  Because  St.  Peter  says 
that  in  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul,  there  are  some  things  hard  to  be  understood,  they  forthwith 
convert  the  word  some  into  many,  and  thence  conclude  that  all  the  Scriptures  are  hard 
to  be  understood  !  And,  finally,  they  misrepresent  the  meaning  of  the  whole  passage. 
"  Some  things  are  hard^  but,  by  no  means  impossible  to  be  understood. 

4.  The  priests  bring  "  a  railing  accusation"  against  heaven  itself!  '*  A  judge, — that  is 
the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  the  word  of  God, —  "whose  decisions  are  so  obscure  as  to 
leave  room  for  controversy  is  extremely  unfit  for  his  office!  Such  a  judge," — that  is  the 
Holy  One, — "  would  never  be  appointed,  nor  sanctioned  by  our  Legislator! ! !" — I  leave  it 
to  the  decision  of  the  christian  world,  whether  the  master-spirit  of  infidelity  ever  displayed 
more  impiety  ;  or  Judas  more  treachery  :  or  Rabshakeh  more  blasphemy,  than  our  priests 
have  done  in  these  extracts  !  And,  I  repeat  it, — it  is  not  their  personal  fault:  they  act 
perfectly  in  character:  it  proceeds  from  the  natural  genius,  and  essential  doctrines  of 
Popery  J 

There  follows  next  a  quotation  from  the  popish  catechism,  steeped  in  deism.  This 
exhibits  what  is  administered  to  these  young  immortals,  instead  of  the  pure  waters  of  life. 
May  Jesus  Christ  preserve  these  children  from  such  soul-destroying  doctrines,  as  are  in- 
stilled into  their  minds  by  their  "  spiritual  teachers,"  and  infidel  catechisms  ! 

The  Letter,  next,  details  some  of  the  protestant  miracles:  such  as,  a  marvellous  growth 
of  hair  on  a  person's  head,  during  night,  narrated  by  Dr.  Adam  Clark  :  next,  the  case  of 
Mary  Toft,  whom  our  priests  gravely  represent  as  "  bringing  forth  rabbits  :"  of  Johanna 
Southcote,  whom  the  priests  endorse  as  the  woidd-be  mother  o^  Messiah  :  and  finally,  of  cer-» 
tain  Irish  ghosts,  who  danced  on  the  waters  at  Poriatown  Bridge :  and  which,  no  doubt 
existed,— but  only  in  the  guilty  and  tortured  consciences  of  their  popish  assussinators  ! 

The  Letter  is  closed  with  these  words:—''  Such  things,"  namely,  these  Protestant  mira- 
cles,— ''  as  well  as  your  rule  of  faith,  have  originated," — that  is  the  holy  scriptures,  and 
the  Hf»LY  (*NE  speaking  to  us  in  them, — '•'■  have  originated  in  sheer  fanaticism,  and  have  been 
sustained  by  imposture  /"  This  carries  with  it,  its  own  refutation  ;  and  proclaims  in  every 
one's  ear,  the  origin,  and  nature  of  popery. 


LETTER  X. 

TO    DOCTORS    POWER,    VARELA,    AND    MR.    LEVINS. 

"  Tria  faclunt  honum,  &c.  Three  things  make  a  good  monk  and  nun:  to  speak  well  of 
the  superior  ;  to  read  the  Breviary  as  much  and  as  often  as  they  choose  ;  and  to  let  things 
go  on  just  as  they  please." — "  There  shall  come  in  the  last  days  scoffers,  walking  after  their 
own  lusts." — St.  Peter. 

Cfentlemen : — By  the  detail  of  extracts,  in  my  last  letter,  I  established  the  fact,  that 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  Il9 

your  peculiar  ceremonies  are  based  in  fanaticism:  and  that  your  whole  system  was 
founded  by  some  of  the  wildest  fanatics,  the  world  ever  saw.  These  extracts  I  copied 
from  your  own  standard  works,  such  as  Acta  Sanctorum,  Butler's  Lives,  &c.  You 
have  not  denied  the  truth  of  one  of  these  extracts  ;  and  you  cannot.  I  invite  you  to 
try  3'our  logic  at  a  refutation  of  them.  It  was  supremely  silly,  gentlemen,  to  pass  the 
whole  over,  as  you  did,  in  your  last  letter,  with  this  Jesuitical  question: — "Do  you 
imagine  catholics  will  admit  your  malignant  fictions,  while  they  mock,  and  reject  the 
dreamy  legends  of  the  visionary  among  their  own  silly  writers  /" 

Let  your  bishop  look  to  this  daring  avowal.  Popes  have  sent  tens  of  thousands  to 
the  stake,  and  gibbet,  for  things  of  a  great  deal  less  consequence  than  this  wicked 
taunt  on  the  Pope,  and  Holy  Mother.  Why,  gentlemen,  you  pronounce  Acta  t>ancto- 
rum, — your  achievements  of  your  saints,  their  miracles,  and  holy  tales,  to  be  dreamy 
legends!  You  call  your  popes,  and  the  various  orders  of  your  monks,  ''silly  and 
visionary  writers  /"  Nay,  have  we  lived  to  hear  the  concessions  !  The  whole  evidence 
on  which  your  popes  gravely  proceed  in  the  mysteries  of  canonization,  to  manufac- 
ture new  saints,  and  new  gods,  for  Roman  worship, — you  actually  denounce  as  wild 
and  "  dreamy  legends." 

Permit  me,  gentlemen,  to  congratulate  you  on  this  approximation  to  the  light. 
Even  Mr.  L.  I  shall  not  despair  of:  protestant  light,  and  logic  have  wrought  wonders 
on  better  men,  in  compelling  them  to  speak  the  truth.  If  Balaam's  ass  spoke  after 
being  well  cudgelled,  why  may  not  even  he  have  his  mouth  opened,  in  the  service  of 
truth,  by  a  logical  flagellation  ? 

You  repeat  your  slanders  of  Luther,  "the  Great  and  the  Good."  I  have  only 
room  for  tioo  remarks  here.  Every  scholar  knows  that  Luther,  when  more  illumined 
from  monkish  ignorance,  did  admit  the  epistle  of  St.  James  into  the  canon.  It  stands 
in  Luther's  German  Bible,  and  if  you  will  consult  Woolfii  Curas,  Philol.  vol.  v.  6. 
and  also  Fabricius  Biblioth.  Graec.  Lib.  iv.  cap.  5.  sec.  9.  you  can  see  your  evidence 
of  your  slander  of  Luther.  My  other  remark  is  this : — Gentlemen,  look  nearer  home. 
The  Roman  church,  in  the  4th  century  denied  the  canonicity  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  !  St.  Jerome  tells  you  this.  See  his  Treatise  of  illustrious  men,  cap.  59, 
and  his  Epistle  53  to  Paulinus.  The  Roman  church  stood  out  long  against  "  the  He- 
brews :"  but  she  was  finally  "  cudgelled"  by  the  Greek  church  into  orthodoxy,  on  the 
canon,  so  far  as  it  respects  "the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews." 

You  say  a  good  deal  in  your  last,  about  "  the  stake  ;"  and  "my  coming  volun- 
tarily up  to  YOUR  STAKE."  I  kuow  that  your  spirit  always  leads  that  way.  And 
even  to-morrow,  had  your  charitable  and  liberal  sect  the  ascendency,  you  would  plant 
the  stakes,  and  light  up  the  Smhhfield  fires  in  our  Park.  I  know  it,  and  you  know- 
it  :  and  even  now  anticipate  it.  But  may  God  in  his  rich  mercy,  preserve  the  Lord's 
church  ;  and  our  happy  Republic,  from  the  conspiracy  of  the  Jesuits. 

I  quoted  a  fair  specimen  of  your  miracles,  believed,  and  by  your  own  Popes,  duly 
registered  at  the  "  Office  of  Miracles  at  Rome,''  by  your  knavish  compeers.  You 
reply  to  this  proof  of  Romish  fanaticism  by  a  6m//  and  frog  story  from  "Adam 
Clark,"  about  a  natural  phenomenon,  a  wonderful  growth  of  a  woman's  hair! 

You  quote  the  case  of  Toft,  and  Johanna  Southcote.  Is  it  not  marvellous  that  you 
should  not  know  that  these  fanatics  borrowed  their  entire  system  from  your  own 
Taulerus,  and  Cressy  !  But,  here  is  a  point  we  wish  to  notice.  When  fanatics  sprung 
up  among  Protestants,  we  cast  them  out,  and  disown  them.  But  when  they  appear  in 
"  Holy  Mother,"  she  sings  hosannas  to  them,  and  enrolls  them  among  her  saints  ! 


120  Roman  catholic  controverstt. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  go  on  to  other  points.  You  are  pleased  to  repeat  in  almoat 
every  Letter,  that  I  do  not  adhere  to  the  subject  of  discussion — "  the  Ruhy 

Now,  sc  far  is  your  charge  from  being  true,  that  I  have,  in  fact,  thus  fan  been  fortu- 
nate enough  in  observing  the  strictest  unity  in  my  discussions.  In  your  first  note, 
you  simply  asked  me  "  to  state  our  rule  of  faith,  and  our  judge  of  controversy."  I 
complied  with  this,  by  stating  that  our  rule  of  faith  is  the  holy  scriptures ;  and  that 
the  judge  of  controversy  is  Almighty  God,  speaking  plainly  and  clearly  to  us  in  them. 
I  did  not  stop  here,  although  this  was  all  you  demanded  : — I  next  brought  forward  the 
proof,  tliat  the  scriptures  were  the  only  and  sufficient  rule :  I  showed  this  from 
external  evidenc6,  and  internal :  I  showed  it  from  various  passages,  that  God  speaking 
to  us,  in  the  Bible,  declared  it  to  be  his  own  word ;  and  pronounced  it  jjerfect  and 
sufficient. 

I  next  endeavored  to  draw  you  oiit  in  defence  of  your  rule!  You  carefully  guarded 
against  this.  You  know  you  cannot  prove  your  rule  of  faith  by  the  'present  authority, 
and  infallibility  of  your  Church.  And  I  give  you  the  credit  of  ia  shrewd  and  well 
conceived  retreat.  But  is  not  your  silenCe  ominous?  x\re  you  not  betraying  a  con* 
gciousness  that  3'Our  clumsy  Rule,  contained  in  so  many  folios,  is  utterly  untenable, 
utterly  indefensible  ?  You  can  never  prove  that  Christ  delivered  to  us,  by  divine  in- 
spiration, the  apocrypha,  and  unwritten  tradition,  and  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
Fathers.  You  can  never  create  a  paradise  out  of  this  continent  of  mud !  In  the 
midst  of  your  awkward  flounderings  in  this  matter,  I  succeed  in  drawing  you  into 
your  "  vicious  circle  :"  and  I  fully  convicted  you  of  your  Romish  sophistry,  by  which 
you  impose  on  simple  and  uneducated  partizans.  You  first  proved  "  Holy  3Iother 
Church"  from  certain  marks  taken  from  the  Bible;  then  you  established  the  inspira- 
tion and  authority  of  the  Bible,  from  your  "Mother  Church!"  And  the  same  sophis- 
try and  "  vicious  circle"  appear  also  in  your  doctrine  of  tradition. 

You  found  it  necessary  to  attempt  the  proof  of  tico  things  here  :  namely,  that  these 
traditions  did  come  from  Christ's  lips:  and  that  the  chain  has  been  faithfully  kept 
unbroken.  But  no  man  can,  while  in  his  senses,  believe  without  evidence;  and  no 
man  has  evidence  unless  he  be  well  acquainted  with  all  the  dead,  and  with  all  the 
living,  who  had  this  chain  of  tradition,  in  their  keeping.  It  is  entirely  different  from 
that  which  is  written  down  in  ten  thousand  copies,  every  where  received  and  read. 
Those  traditions  floated  down  on  the  tongue,  by  hearsay  evidence.  Unless  we  kno-vr 
the  truth  and  fidelity  of  all  the  dead,  and  of  all  the  living,  who  did  and  still  do  hand 
them  down,  it  were  an  insult  on  common  sense,  to  ask  us  to  believe  these  traditions  I 

How  do  you  get  over  this  impossibility  ?  Why,  by  plunging  still  deeper  into  absurd- 
ities. For  instance,  first,  you  resort  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  fathers,  and  lay 
down  this  maxim,  that  what  has  this  unanimous  consent  is  true  tradition  ;  what  ha« 
it  not,  is  to  be  rejected.  Now,  you  load  yourselves  here  with  a  task  which,  as 
we  showed,  no  uninspired  man  can  achieve.  To  establish  this  unanimous  consent 
you  must  produce  an  authenticated  copy  of  the  fathers,  free  of  all  additions  and 
alterations.  And  you  must  demonstrate  the  fact  of  this.  You  must,  then,  go  over 
all  their  thirty-Jive  enormous  folios  ;  exhibit  their  40,000  pages  to  the  j)ublic,  and 
prove  infallibly,  that  there  is  no  error,  and  no  contradiction,  or  one  doubtful  sentiment 
in  one  of  them;  but  an  unanimous  consent  to  all  your  peculiarities  of  popery.  How 
many  millions  of  such  men  as  Dr.  Power,  and  Mr.  Levins,  would  it  take,  with  the 
aid  of  Dr.  Varela,  to  do  this,  think  you? — No  tongue  can  tell  ! 

But,  gentlemen,  the  settlement  of  this  point,  is  simple  and  easy  on  our  part.     For 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    COITTROVERST.  121 

^ivhile  you  are  put  upon  proving  a  negative,  we  have  the  easy  task  of  proving  an  affirm- 
ative. I  have  done  it  in  my  Letter  VIII.,  I  selected  ten  of  your  essential  pecuh- 
arities  of  popery ;  and  then  adduced  from  six  to  seventeen  of  the  best  of  the  fathers, 
who  are  clearly  against  each  of  your  peculiarities.  It  is  of  no  consequence  to  ui 
whether  your  fathers'  volumes  be  authentic  or  not.  And  thus,  by  the  simplest  pro- 
cess, your  unanimous  consent  to  your  system,  has  been  utterly  demolished.  No  man, 
in  his  senses,  none  but  a  Jesuit,  which  is  the  classic  English  word  for  a  knave,  will 
venture  to  affirm  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  a  unanimous  consent  of  the  Greek  and 
Roman  fathers.  There  is  an  universal  contradiction  on  their  part ;  both  among  them- 
selves, and  against  all  the  essentials  of  popery. 

But  second,  you  all  saw  this  evil,  and  to  remedy  it  you  have  invented  the  wild  and 
extravagant  fanaticism  of  infallibility.  And  you  affirm,  with  solemn  grimace, 
that  *' the  Church," — meaning  the  Roman  priests, — "  know  these  traditions  by  her 
INFALLIBILITY."  Now,  mark  your  sophistry  and  vicious  circle.  Who  has  a  right 
to  decide  on  these  traditions,  and  this  infallibility  !  "Why,  the  Church  to  be  sure," 
say  you  :  "that  is  to  say,  the  Romish  priests."  You  stand  forward  with  no  other 
power  and  authority  than  that  which  is  derived  from  tradition  and  infallibility :  and 
by  virtue  of  this  said  power,  from  unproved  tradition,  and  unproved  infaUihility^ 
you  decid-e  formally  that  these  traditions  and  this  infallibility  are  from  God  our  Sa- 
vior !  You  borrow  from  these  uninspired  novelties,  all  your  power  and  authority  of 
office :  and  then  by  this  official  power,  you  prove  tradition  and  infallibility  divine  !  I 

These  arguments  of  yours,  are  the  entire  corner  stone  of  your  ancient  tottering  edi- 
fice,— already  tumbling  about  your  ears, — for,  blessed  be  God,  the  1260  years  of  "the 
Beast's"  reign  are  now  verging  nearly  toward  their  close.  This  is  the  only  and 
entire  idea  which  you  have  advanced,  stript  as  it  has  been,  of  all  your  verbiage,  coarse 
wit,  and  blasphemy  ? 

But,  I  did  not  stop  here :  j'our  rule  I  next  attacked,  and  logically  demolished  by 
TEN  arguments.  That  was  no  great  task :  and  there  was  no  great  honor  in  doing  it,  I 
frankly  admit.  But  these  ten  arguments  have  not  to  this  day  been  touched,  far 
less  refuted  by  you.  Thus  far,  then,  was  there  not  perfect  unity  in  my  discussion  ?  I 
next  devoted  Letters  VI.  and  VII.  to  the  refutation  of  various  objections  which  your 
zeal  had  collected,  against  the  holy  Bible,  our  rule  of  faith.  And  you  now  stand  con- 
victed of  the  deism  of  the  Voltaire  school ;  in  the  estimation  of  every  christian,  and 
of  every  sensible  deist  in  the  community  ?  To  accomplish  this,  and  strip  tiie  vizor 
off  your  face  before  an  indignant  community,  was,  I  repeat  it,  one  main  object  of  my 
lingering  so  long  on  the  rule. 

In  Letter  VIII.  I  showed  that,  in  abandoning  the  word  of  God,  as  the  only  rule, 
you  have  apostatized  from  pure  Christianity ;  and  erected  a  perfectly  novel  system  in 
its  stead.  In  letter  IX.,  I  endeavored  to  follow  out  this  argument.  I  exhibited  a  col- 
lection of  historical  documents,  to  demonstrate  the  appalling  result  of  your  apostacy 
from  the  only  rule  of  faith.  I  proved,  from  your  own  authentic  books,  that 
your  leading  doctrines,  rites,  and  monkish  orders  were  estabhshed  in  fanati- 
cism!  Is  there  no  unity  in  all  this  discussion?  Has  not  the  Master  told  us 
that,  "by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them?"  Have  we  not  conducted  our 
readers  to  the  pure  word  of  God,  which,  like  the  tree  of  life,  bears  all  manner  of 
fruit ;  yielding  its  fruit  and  leaves,  for  the  spiritual  food,  and  healing  of  the  nations  ? 
And  have  I  not,  amid  your  unmanly  vituperations,  been  solemnly  warning  all  men 
against  an  approach  to  your  fatal  tree  of  death,— more  deadly  than  the  tree  o^  the 

12 


122  R03IAN    CATHOLIC   CONTROVERSY. 

East,  whose  mortal  influence  poisons  the  air,  and  scatters  on  every  hand  wasting  pesti-^ 
ience  and  death ! 

I  congratulate  you  on  avowing,  for  once,  the  truth,  namely,  that  there  is  no  version  of 
the  scriptures  in  English,  authorised  by  your  fope,  or  Mother  church.  Your  reply 
to  my  question  on  this  subject  was  "  TranseatP^  That  is,  "let  that  pass;"  meaning, 
thereby,  to  say, — "  Our  craft  has  failed,  and  betrayed  us ;  let  us  boldly  make  a  virtue 
of  necessity :  every  priest  knows  that  "  our  Douay  Bible,^^  is  a  sheer  hoax  on  Protest- 
ants :  our  Irish  superiors,  indeed,  once  ventured  by  solemn  testimony,  to  declare  it 
'■^authorised  by  our  superiors:''^  but  we  all  know  their  wise  reasons  for  denying  on 
oath,  all  this  and  even  their  own  signatures,  before  the  British  parliament.  Therefore 
*'transeatP  '^ — Gentlemen,  I  laud  your  candor.  But,  then, you  have  placed  your 
Vicar  general.  Doctor  Power,  in  a  predicament  in  which  no  man  of  truth  or  honor  can 
he  found.  You  have  "ponf/^ca?/^/,"  convicted  him  of  a  mean  and  scandalous  impo- 
sition, and  at  the  same  time,  of  a  shocking  impiety.  In  Clinton  Hall,  in  presence  of 
the  public,  he  lifted  his  hands  towards  heaven,  and  made  a  solemn  appeal  to  Al- 
mighty God  that  he  and  his  priestly  associates,  did  zealously  encourage  the  reading  of 
ihe  holy  scriptures  by  the  laity  in  their  own  vernacular !  And  yet,  there  is,  as  you  now 
admit,  no  authorised  version  of  them  in  English !  ! 

This  is  the  second  extraordinary  admission  which  has  been  extorted  from  you.  I 
allude  to  the  avowal  in  your  Letter  I.  that  your  religion,  and  that  of  the  Protestants 
are  not  modifications  of  the  one  thing  :  that  they  are  essentially  distinct.  You  say, 
*'  If  the  Catholics  are  right,  your  Reformation  was  superfluous  and  a  rebellion  against 
heaven.  If  you  hold  the  truth,  the  chief  part  of  catholic  worship  is  not  only  errone- 
ous, but  idolatrous:  an  offence  against  heaven,  &c."  I  thank  you  for  this  admission 
in  the  face  of  the  American  people,  and  I  trust  it  will  never  be  forgotten  by  the  reading 
and  reflecting  community.  We  are  as  opposite  as  Christ  and  Belial !  And  by  this 
last  admission,  you  have  doomed  your  own  rule ;  in  as  much  as  it  proves  that  this  part 
of  it,  namely,  the  holy  scriptures,  and  also  the  apocrypha,  are  utterly  inaccessible 
to  many  of  your  priests,  and  to  the  great  body  of  the  laity.  And  when  we  take  into 
consideration  the  fact  that  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Fathers  does  not  exist;  and 
its  proof  by  you  will  live  and  die  in  the  land  of  promise ;  most  manifest  is  it,  now,  if 
any  doubt  did,  heretofore,  remain,  that  your  rule  is  by  your  infatuated  admission,  de- 
fective, intangible,  false,  and  utterly  useless,  and  nullified!  You  have  no  rule  of  faith 
from  heaven! !  And,  hence,  as  in  all  usual  processes  of  nature  ; — for  monsters  beget 
monsters, — your  rule,  originated  by  the  prince  of  darkness,  naturally  begets  apostacies, 
the  novel  sect  of  Romanism  with  all  its  putrifying  mass  of  fanaticism,  and  supersti- 
tions, and  idolatries ; — unparalleled  in  the  moral  history  of  our  fallen  race ! 

In  my  last  Letter,  I  drew  the  public  attention  to  some  of  the  proofs  of  this.  I  beg 
leave  to  devote  another  letter  to  it.  Be  pleased  then,  gentlemen,  to  follow  me  in  the 
pleasing  task ! 

"  From  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous,  there  is  only  a  single  step,"  said  Napoleon  in 
his  fatal  fall.  In  the  irrevocable  fall  of  the  Romish  church,  she  has  united  the  most 
lofty  and  daring  in  claims  of  power  and  homage,  to  the  most  fantastic,  ludicrous, 
ineauj  and  base  in  imposture,  and  degrading  in  action  !  The  illustration  of  this  will 
teach  us  the  appalling  consequences  of  abandoning  the  only  guide  and  rule,  as  the 
"  Romish  anomos,  ihe  lawless  One'''  has  done. 

I.  This  "  Lawless  One"  has  set  up  claims  on  the  human  conscience,  which  place 
at  defiance,  all  sober  conceptions.     The  Romish  priesthood  grasp  the  reins  of  unbound- 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  123 

ed  ghostly  power  over  their  votaries,  the  deluded  people.  Without  a  special  written 
license  from  the  priest,  no  man,  or  woman,  dare  read  the  holy  Bible, — even  admit- 
ting that  there  were  an  authorized  version  within  their  reach.  That  is  to  say, — God  is 
not  allowed,  without  sacerdotal  permission,  to  speak  to  his  own  subjects !  And  men, 
who  have  to  account  unto  God,  each  for  himself,  and  not  by  proxy,  are  not  allowed  with- 
out a  polluted  and  usurping  priest's  permission,  to  hear  God  speaking  unto  them.  The 
Romish  church  tells  Almighty  God,  that  he  shall  not  be  heard,  but  through  a  priest's 
lips ;  and  even  as  that  priest  shall  choose  !  The  Romish  church  tells  the  Almighty, 
that  the  priest  shall  explain  his  divine  will,  just  as  the  priest, — ignorant,  incontinent, 
and  vicious  as  he  is, — shall  be  pleased ;  that  God  is  not  the  lord  of  the  conscience ; 
that  the  priest  has  a  right  to  dictate  to  man  all  that  God  only  has  a  right  to  say  :  that 
the  priest  opens  heaven ;  that  he  opens,  and  shuts  up  in  purgatory;  and  in  hell;  that 
though  Christ  commands  "  to  come  icithout  money  and  without  •price,''''  the  priest  and 
IMother  church  tell  the  Almighty  that,  they  shall  pay  their  money,  and  give  the  priest 
his  price  of  the  mass  !  that  though  Christ  has  "the  keys  of  hell  and  death,"  and  sets 
his  people  all  free,  the  pope  and  his  priestlings  reply  to  the  Most  High, — "Now,  thou 
shalt  not  wear  the  ke^^s  of  hell  and  of  death  :  I  demand  them  of  thee ;  because  certain 
popes  dreamed  a  dream,  and  told  us  that  St.  Peter  got  them  from  thee, — thou  shalt  not 
have  them  ?  Besides,  no  man  shall  have  freedom  from  the  yoke  of  bondage,  nor  have 
their  souls  emancipated  from  purgatory  until  we  shall  obtain  all  the  gold  and  silver 
from  them  which  we  can  extract!"  This  is  the  mandate  issued  from  your  throne  of 
Mammon  !  ! 

Hence,  Christ  and  his  atonement  are  excluded :  the  idol  is  set  up  in  its  place ; 
human  merit,  gold  and  silver,  occupy  the  place  of  his  unspotted  righteousness ;  holy 
water,  penance,  and  ghostly  absolution  occupy  the  place  which  the  Holy  Spirit  occu- 
pies in  his  own  church.  The  only  object  of  divine  worship  is  now  lost  sight  of,  in  the 
confounding  and  bewildering  multiplicity  of  created  gods  and  goddesses !  The  Vir- 
gin Mary  is  the  queen  of  heaven:  she  is,  O  horrible !  "  the  mother  of  God  P''  and  her 
mother.  Saint  Anna,  is  of  course  "  the  grandmother  of  God  /" 

The  Virgin  has  more  prayers  offered  up  to  her  by  your  ivell  educated  devotees,  than 
what  Christ  has  ;  as  every  one  knows  who  is  acquainted  with  female  Roman  catho- 
lics. And  each  new  saint,  added  for  money,  and  by  some  sublime  catholic  miracle, 
absorbs  for,  a  season,  all  the  worship.  In  the  year  1171,  for  instance,  there  arose  a 
new  god.  This  Avas  Thomas  a  Becket,  an  impious  and  haughty  priest,  the  curse  and 
scourge  of  his  country ;  and  a  rebel  against  the  laws  of  the  land,  and  the  authority  of 
his  lawful  sovereign ;  who  also  screened  the  vicious  and  criminal  priests  from  the  just 
visitation  of  outraged  laws,  and  an  insulted  community.  The  haughty  rebel  was  slain 
by  some  persons  who  felt  indignant  at  his  insults  offered  to  the  king  and  the  laws. 

The  court  of  Rome  has  never  failed  to  take  advantage  of  these  feuds  and  national 
disturbances.  It  has  never  failed  to  sustain  rebels  against  their  sovereigns,  providing 
it  could  reap  any  possible  advantages  to  ghostly  power.  And  the  pope  has  never  failed 
to  enrol  in  his  holy  calendar  as  right  worshipful  saints,  those  who  fell  in  rebellion 
againstking  and  country,  to  help  on  popery.  Accordingly  this  EngHsh  rebel  was  duly 
canonized.  In  a  short  time  a  magnificent  altar  was  erected  to  him  in  his  cathedral, 
near  those  of  Christ,  and  "  the  holy  mother  of  God  !"  One  main  use  of  altars  in  our 
priests'  mass  houses,  is,  by  the  way,  to  receive  the  needful,  namely,  the  money  /  The 
holy  priest  must  not  handle  it :  he  needs  no  money ;  holy  man  !  his  whole  soul  is  in 
heaven!   The  altar  receives  the  money;  it  is  given, — not  to  the  priests, — O,  no— it  is 


124  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSr. 

given  to  God  and  the  saints !  Well,  the  amount  of  gold  and  silver  piled  up  on  the 
altar  is  the  clearest  and  best  evidence  which  of  the  saints  gets  the  most  devotion ! 
During  the  young  honors  of  the  new  god,  the  accounts  stood  thus :  On  Christ's  altar 
£3,  on  that  of  the  dead  priest,  £832!  Next  year — this  priest  eclipsed  Christ  and 
"the  mother  of  God;"  accounts  stood  at  more  fearful  odds!  On  Christ's  altar, 
^^  '■ — nothing !  not  one  copper  farthing,  and  hence  no  prayers  to  him !  On  the  altar 
of  3Iary  were  laid  £4.  1.8.     On  that  of  the  wretched  dead  priest,  £954.  6.  4. ! 

The  Roman  pontitTs  are  invested  with  different  degrees  of  power  by  the  four  grand 
factions  existing  in  the  bosom  of  "  undivided  Mother  Church,"  The  first  makes  him 
Inerely  a  president :  the  second,  an  absolute  monarch :  the  third  makes  him  equal  to 
<jod,  and  calls  him  "our  God,"  "the  Lord  God,  the  pope:"  "our  God  on  earth:" 
"none,"  says  St.  Bernard,  (1725)  "but  God  is  hke  unto  the  pope,  either  in  heaven 
or  in  earth."  Edgar's  Variations  of  popery,  p.  158.  The  fourth  faction  makes  the 
pope  superior  to  God.  "He  has  the  plenitude  of  power,  and  is  above  law."  Gibert 
ii.  103.  Bellarmine,  De  Pontif.  IV.  5,  declares  that  he  can  bind  the  church  to  believe 
that  virtue  is  vice :  and  vice  is  virtue. — "  Possumus,  &c.  We  can  dispense  with  law.'* 
See  the  Decret.  Gregor.  III.  8,  IV.  "The  pope  (Leo  X.)  has  power  above  all 
powers  in  heaven  and  in  earth."     See  Labb.  Concil.  vol.  19.  924.  Edgar,  p.  161. 

This  is  the  grand  practical  doctrine  exercised  with  such  tremendous  mischief  at  the 
confessional.  Such  power  is  lodged  with  the  priest  that  he  can  make  sin  no  sin ;  and 
vice  laudable,  if  committed  to  oblige  and  favor  the  priest.  "  If  you  sin  with  me,  and 
comply  with  my  will"  says  the  holy  man  possessing  a  chip  of  the  pope's  infallible 
power, — "  I  will  absolve  you,  after  we  are  done  !"  "  I  will  absolve  you,  for  a  trifle, — 
said  a  holy  priest  to  a  lady  of  my  acquaintance  of  the  North  Dutch  Church,  when  he 
was  urging  her  to  play  cards  and  gamble,  on  a  sabbath  afternoon,  on  board  of  the 
packet. 

In  virtue  of  this  unlimited  power,  the  pope  and  his  Jesuits  claim  authority  over  the 
bodies  and  souls  of  all  men  :  and  over  all  their  property, — be  they  Romans  or  Protest- 
ants !  Does  any  man  possess  such  feeble  conceptions  of  the  nature  and  spirit  of  the 
apocalyptic  "  Beast,"  as  to  imagine  that  the  Protestants'  apostacy  and  heresy  have 
put  them  beyond  the  pope's  power  and  claims  ?  No :  he  claims  dominion  over  every 
Protestant  as  much  as  ever. 

He  claims  power,  also  over  all  governments,  in  all  kingdoms,  and  in  all  republics, 
be  they  Protestant  or  Roman  catholic.  My  credulous  fellow  citizens  will  not  believe 
this.  But  they  must  allow  me  to  say  that  this  credulity  proceeds  from  the  success 
with  which  the  crafty  Jesuits  have  blinded  our  eyes,  and  palmed  on  us  a  system,  as 
their  system,  which  every  priest  knows  to  be  ridiculous  and  false.  I  speak  not  of  the 
enlightened  and  truly  patriotic  Roman  catholics,  who  have  seen  through  the  mask 
of  ghostly  hypocrisy.  I  speak  of  the  Roman  Jesuitical  system,  with  the  pope  at  tlie 
head  of  it.  "  It  is  a  thing  most  manifest,"  says  a  Romish  author,  Tesora  Politico,  &c. 
.1602,  p.  20. — "That  his  holiness  has  universal  power  over  all:  not  only  in  his  own 
:states,  but  those  of  other  princes,  and  in  all  the  world,  &c."  And  Bellarmine  De 
Pont.  Lib.  V.  cap.  6,  teaches  that  "the  pope  has  the  chief  power  of  disposing  of  the 
temporal  affairs  of  all  christians,  in  order  to  their  spiritual  good."  Yes,  for  their  spirii- 
tuil  good  !  Riches  and  scripture  doctrines  corrupt  men.  And,  therefore,  for  man's 
spiritual  good,  the  priests  take  away  the  money  and  the  Bible  :  and  bum  the  body,  for 
the  soul's  spiritual  good !  And  all  the  world  has  read  the  saying  of  pope  Innocent  III. 
"  The  Church,  my  spouse,  is  not  married  to  me  without  bringing  me  something:  she 


ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  125 

has  given  me  a  dowry  of  a  price  beyond  all  price, — the  plenitude  of  spiritual  things ; 
and  the  extent  of  temporal  things  !"  "  The  pope,"  said  a  council  with  Gregory  VII. 
at  its  head,  "ought  to  be  called  the  universal  bishop;  he  alone  ought  lo  wear  the 
tokens  of  imperial  dignity ;  all  princes  ought  to  kiss  his  feet ;  he  has  power  to  dethrone 
empires  and  kings ;  and  is  to  be  judged  by  none !"  And  Rome  never  amused  herself 
with  empty  titles,  as  do  the  Persian  and  Chinese  princes.  They  uttered  their  diabolical 
edicts  in  thunder ;  and  executed  them  with  fire  and  blood !  They  excommunicated 
kings  ;  deposed  them  from  their  thrones ;  absolved  subjects  from  their  lawful  allegi- 
ance ;  moved  nations  to  rebellion  and  blood  shed  :  abrogated  national  laws :  put  an 
end  to  commerce,  and  trade :  turned  once  happy  nations  into  fields  of  blood  !  An 
endless  succession  of  wars  in  Germany  was  originated  by  pontifical  pride;  no  tie  was 
held  sacred ;  no  oath  was  buiding;  no  law  of  God  or  man  respected,  if  the  Roman 
pontiff  could  only  gratify  his  satauic  passions ;  and  extend  his  anti-christian  pov.er  ! 
In  a  word,  kings,  and  princes,  and  magistrates,  were  sacrificed  to  his  ambition.  And 
while  the  flames  of  war  kindled  by  him,  raged  over  many  lands,  and  while  oceans 
of  human  blood  were  shed  by  his  infernal  emissaries,  the  priesthood, — he  was  all  the 
time  busy  in  diawing  in  the  wealth  of  the  contending  nations.  He  weakened,  and 
divided,  then  conquered,  and  gained  infinite  wealth  by  national  robbery !  All  this 
v.-as  done  in  the  name  of  Christ ;  all  this  robbery  was  for  man's  spiritual  good  ;  all 
this  money  went  into  holy  Peter's  purse  for  man's  salvation  ! 

Touching  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  pope's  supremacy  there  is  a  mistake  gener- 
ally prevailing  among  our  fellow  citizens.  Our  political  men,  and  very  many  of  even 
our  christian  professors,  conceive  that  it  exists  merely  in  name,  among  the  Roman 
catholics  in  our  country :  and  that  it  is  not  acknowledged  now  by  the  enlightened 
members  of  that  sect.  This  is  a  great  error.  I  am  indebted  to  an  estimable  friend  of 
mine  for  an  important  fact  which  goes  to  illustrate  this  matter.  He  states  what  took 
place  in  our  State  Legislature  about  26  years  ago.  He  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  it. 
Francis  Cooper,  Esq.  one  of  his  associates  elected,  was  a  Roman  catholic;  he  could 
not  take  the  oath  of  office  and  allegiance  because  it  bound  him  "  to  abjure  all  allegi- 
ance to  king,  prince,  potentate  and  power,  whether  ecclesiastical  or  civil."  He 
could  not  abjure  the  pope's  supremacy  :  he  could  not  renounce  this  foreign  yoke. 
On  his  petition,  and  that  of  the  Roman  catholics,  a  bill  was  brought  in  to  strike  out 
the  word  "  ecclesiastical.''  An  animated  debate  took  place,  and,  owing  to  the  rage  of 
IK)litics,  and  the  general  want  of  knowledge  of  the  true  nature  and  tendency  of  the 
foreign  yoke  of  popery,  it  was  carried.  And  so  the  Roman  catholics  do  not  abjure 
foreign  ecclesiastical  allegiance  !  This  establishes  the  fact  that  the  papal  supremacy 
includes  a  ghostly  despotism  over  his  votaries,  not  equalled  in  any  Turkish,  or  any 
pagan  land. 

Some,  I  dare  say,  are  disposed  to  admit  that  the  plea  of  the  papists  is  plausible  and 
right :  tiiat  they  own  liim  merely  as  their  "  spiritual  head."  I  have  two  reasons 
wh}- 1  demur  to  this.  First,  it  cannot  be  republican ;  nor  salutary  to  civil  liberty  to  be 
tinder  such  foreign  despotism, — that  a  man  cannot  think,  nor  write,  nor  act,  or  even 
read  the  holy  scriptures,  without  being  exclusively  moved  and  dictated  to  by  a  foreign 
despot?  A  man  who  thus  sells  his  soul,  and  his  christian  liberty,  can  never  be  a  good 
and  faithful  lover  of  American  liberty.  It  is  utterly  impossible.  But,  this  is  not  all, — 
this  separation  of  the  ecclesiastical  from  the  civil  and  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  is 
not  authorised,  not  even  recognized,  far  less  allowed  by  the  Pope.  It  has  never  been 
yielded  up  by  hira  :  and  it  never  can,  and  it  never  will.    Why  ?    because  a  despot 

12* 


126  RO»IAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

never  yields,  but  for  ever  tries  to  acquire  more  power  :  and  because,  as  every  papkf 
pleads,  the  pope  and  church  are  infaUible,  and  immutable.  And  it  is  most  manifest 
that  all  papists  who  separate  the  spiritual  from  the  temporal  power,  are  in  the  very 
act  of  robbing  the  pope.  Thej^  are  in  the  act  of  robbing  the  pope  of  the  most  brilliant 
gem  in  his  crown, — his  infallibility !  The  sentiments  of  the  popes  quoted  above,  fully 
prove  this.  And  the  case  of  Mr.  Farnan,  of  Brooklj'n  :  and  the  late  difficulties  be- 
tween the  highly  respectable  and  intelligent  trustees  of  St.  Patrick's  and  the  priests, 
must  satisfy  every  one  that  the  priests  and  Jesuits  here  have  never  given  up  this  claim 
of  temporal  power ;  and  they  never  will.  It  is  true,  they  tell  the  Protestant  public, 
that  they  admit  only  the  spiritual  power.  But  they  know,  and  every  intelligent  man 
m  the  community  does  know,  that  the  priests  have  sworn  before  Almighty  God  to  up- 
hold the  pope  in  all  the  extent  of  his  power :  they  do  own  his  civil  power  as  much  as 
^lis  spiritual ;  or,  as  the  alternative,  they  are,  in  the  pope's  eyes,  daring  rebels ;  and 
before  heaven,  perjured  knaves !     Let  them  choose  the  alternative  of  the  dilemma. 

The  present  Pope  has  exhibited  all  the  intolerance  and  bigotry  of  the  ninth  century ; 
and  let  the  American  public  look  to  it, — every  one  of  you,  gentlemen,  and  every  bishop 
and  priest  believe  and  avov/  the  same  sentiments.  In  his  Circular  Letter  published  in 
Europe  and  America,  your  supreme  Head,  lately  pronounced  from  the  Vatican,  that 
'■'liberty  of  conscience  is  an  absurd  and  dangerous  maxim:  or  rather  the  ravings  of 
delirium. '^^  And  you,  gentlemen,  believe  and  unblushingly  advocate  the  same  thing : 
and  you  have  not  the  assurance  to  come  out  and  deny  it.  Let  the  x-Vmerican  public, 
both  political  and  religious,  look  at  this ;  let  them  watch  the  priests,  if  they  will  dis- 
avow this  bull  of  their  present  ghostly  leader  at  Rome  ! 

This  is  not  all :  the  pope  and  his  priests  are  avowed  enemies  to  the  liberty  of  the 
Press  :  to  them  it  is  a  torturing  nuisance.  Hear  the  present  Pope's  own  words  in  the 
above  named  Circular.  The  hberty  of  the  Press  is  ''that fatal  licensi,  of  which  we 
cannot  entertain  too  much  horror  T'  And  if  ever  they  gain  the  ascendancy  here,  they 
will  soon  show  this,  by  the  Codex  Expurgatorius ;  by  chains,  dungeons,  racks,  and 
fires  !  In  admitting  the  Pope's  supremacy,  they  are  sworn,  on  pain  of  damnation, 
to  admit  and  honor  all  this  dictation  of  the  pope,  in  temporal  and  spiritual  matters. 

II.  In  Rome's  apostacy  from  the  only  rule  of  faith,  she  has  irrecoverably  lost  the 
spirit  of  Christianity. 

The  genius  of  Christianity  is  love,  pure,  holy,  unsubduable  love  and  benevolence. 
"  God  is  love ;  and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in  God,  and  God  in  him."  "  He 
that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God,  for  God  is  love."  "  If  a  man  say  I  love  God,  and 
hateth  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar !"  "  Whosoever  hateth  his  brother  is  a  murderer !  and 
ye  know  that  no  murderer  hath  eternal  life  abiding  in  him."    St.  John*s  1st  epistle. 

Now  contemplate  the  spirit  of  the  Roman  catholic  church,  ever  since  her  great 
apostacy  ; — as  displayed  in  her  dogmas,  and  actions. — The  maxim  "  that  710  faith  is 
to  be  kept  with  heretics,''  has  been  a  favorite  doctrine  with  Rome,  most  firmly  believed 
and  rigidly  acted  upon.  Pope  Gregory  VII.  made  a  decree  to  this  purpose,  which 
has  not  been  revoked.  Martin  V.  said  in  his  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Lithuania, — "Be 
assured  that  thou  sinnest  mortally,  if  thou  keepest  thy  faith  with  heretics  !"  Gregory 
IX.  made  a  decree,  absolving  all  people  from  their  vows,  and  obligations  to  those  who 
had  fallen  into  heresy.  And  the  Bishop  Simanca,  sometime  professor  of  law  in  the 
University  of  Salamanca,  in  his  famous  work  "The  Catholic  Institutions," — says  in 
his  commentary  on  this  lav/  of  Gregory  IX.,  that  "by  this  law,  all  governors  are  set 
free  from  the  bond  of  their  oath."     "  A  Catholic  wdfe  is  set  free  from  her  obhgations 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  127 

to  perform  her  marriage  contract  with  her  heretical  husband."  And  he  adds,  "Justly, 
therefore,  were  some  heretics  [Huss  and  Jerome]  burned  by  the  council  of  Constance, 
although  tliey  had  been  promised  security  !"  The  general  council  of  Constance  did 
solemnly  establish  this  characteristic,  and  sanguinary  dogma  of  the  Roman  catholic 
church,  that  "no  faith  must  be  kept  with  heretics." 

Carrying  out  this  principle,  Rome  pronounces  all  who  refuse  to  yield  unlimited 
obedience  to  the  pope's  despotism  in  all  things,  to  be  heretics  ;  and  heretics  are  trai- 
tors against  heaven  and  Almighty  God,  because  they  are  rebels  against  heaven's 
VICAR.  And  by  that  fact  are  their  lives  forfeited;  and  it  is  a  duty  to  burn,  kill,  cut 
down,  and  exterminate  them  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  "And  the  blood  of  here- 
tics,"— say  your  Rhemish  annotators  on  Rev.  xvii.  6, — "is  no  more  the  blood  of 
saints,  than  the  blood  of  thieves,  man  killers,  and  other  malefactors,  for  the  shedding  of 
which,  by  order  of  justice,  no  commonwealth  shall  answer." 

By  this  solemn  dogma  of  the  Romish  church,  all  devoted  Roman  catholics  are 
taught  from  their  childhood,  to  believe  that  to  kill  a  Protestant,  or  a  heretic,  is  cbing 
God  a  service,  because  it  is  the  act  of  executing  Holy  Mother  church's  law.  Hence 
that  unshaken  enmity,  malice,  wrath,  and  murderous  hatred,  which  bigoted  Roman 
catholics  feel  against  Protestants,  Jews,  and  others!  They  abhor  them  even  as  one 
abhors  the  prince  of  darkness  I  They  believe  them  all  to  be  worse  than  thieves, 
robbers,  and  murderers.  Their  canons,  and  their  priests  daily  teach  that  no  man  can 
possibly  be  saved  who  is  not  a  Roman  catholic.  And  besides  these  weekly  and  daily 
impressions  made  by  the  priests,  and  the  diabolical  spirit  breathed  throughout  their 
books  and  conversations,  "  the  faithful"  are  accustomed  once  every  year,  at  least,— 
that  is  on  the  Thursday  of  Passion  week,— to  see  the  Pope's  representative,  in  hi^ 
flaming  scarlet  robes,  (the  emblem  of  their  bloody  purpose)  pronouncing  the  curse  of 
present  and  perpetual  perdition  on  all  Protestants.  This  is  regularly  done  in  our 
cities,  and  throughout  the  land. 

This  deeply  malignant  spirit,  has  often  burst  forth  as  a  merciless  demon  from  "  the 
bottomless  pit."  Hence  the  murderous  wars  of  the  Crusades  against  the  Turks,  and 
the  christian  Waldenses !  Hence  the  wars  of  Germany,  and  all  Europe,  in  the  dark 
ages,  and  in  the  tunes  of  the  Reformation.  The  Roman  catholic  princes  of  the  bloody 
house  of  the  Bourbons,  and  of  Austria,  went  forth  at  the  pope's  nod,  "  doing  God 
service,"  for  "the  spiritual  good  of  man,"  persecuting,  plundering,  burning,  and 
massacring  Protestants!  Hence  the  horrid  interdicts,  and  excommunications  of 
king-s,  and  whole  nations;  hence  depositions,  and  the  absolving  of  subjects  from  their 
allegiance  and  duty  to  the  magistracy,  and  the  laws ;  the  suspension  of  trade  and  com- 
merce; the  refusal  to  let  the  dead  be  buried;  and  all  the  innumerable  evils  which 
p^^pish  fury  could  devise  and  inflict  on  a  people.  Hence  the  cool  and  systematic 
murders  of  Protestants  and  others;  in  a  long  and  bloody  train  of  executions,— not  to 
speak  of  the  Inquisition.  Upwards  ofsirtrj-eight  millions  of  human  beings,  as  we  shall 
afterwards  show,  have  been  offered  upon  the  altar  of  the  bloody  Roman  catliohc  faith. 
St.  John,  in  vision,  saw  Rome  catholic  "drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints."  Now, 
he  that  hateth  his  brother,  is  a  murderer.  What  must  Rome  be,  which  has  made  the 
hatred  of  men,  who  differ  from  her  in  religion,  an  article  of  her  religious  creed  . 
What  must  she  be,  who  has  shed  such  oceans  of  human  blood  ?  Is  it  not  a  mockery 
of  religion  and  reason  to  call  her  a  church  of  Christ  ?  Is  it  not  an  outrage  on  reason. 
to  call  th^i-^christianity,  which  stimulates  her  to  do  such  damnable  deeds  ?     Moloch 


128  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

and  Jugernaut  are  mere  children  in  murderous  crimes,  compared  to  this.  Offer  no 
apologies  for  her,  because  Protestants  have  persecuted.  They  have  done  so ;  but  then 
it  is  no  part  of  their  religion.  Calvin  and  others  acted  under  the  unrepealed  bloody 
civil  laws,  which  had  been  passed  by  Roman  catholics,  when  Servetus  was  burned. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  canons,  nothing  in  the  creed  of  Protestants,  stimulating  to 
persecution.  On  the  contrary,  every  sentiment  in  their  creeds  and  confessions,  breathes 
love  and  benevolence.  The  early  Protestants  were  only  acting  out  the  infamous  les- 
sons which  they  had,  when  young,  unhappily  learned  from  the  Roman  catholics. 
But  it  is  a  part  of  the  canons,  and  elemental  part  of  the  religion  of  Rome,  as  we  have 
seen  above,  to  persecute  and  kill  heretics !  And  as  if  all  this  were  not  enough,  the 
pope  claims  the  power  of  persecuting  even  after  death.  He  claims  the  power  of  dam- 
nation. He  absolutely  claims  the  keys  to  shut  out  of  heaven,  and  shut  up  in  hell. 
Let  any  look,  for  proof  of  this,  into  the  Bulls.  I  take  up,  for  instance,  the  Bull  of 
excommunication  against  Queen  Elizabeth,  of  England.  Here  is  the  title  of  it.  "The 
damnation  and  excommunication  of  Elizabeth,  and  her  adherents,  &c."  "Pope 
Pius,  servant  of  the  servants  of  God," — (marvellously  humble  this  knave  was) — "in 
{>erpetuam  rei  memoriam,  &c." — Here  we  see  the  result  of  the  Roman  apostacy» 
from  the  only  rule.  Can  that  rule  adopted  by  the  Romish  church,  which  stimu- 
lates to  such  deeds  these  monsters  in  human  form,  be  a  rule  given  to  us  from  infinite 
love  and  benevolence  ?     It  is  impossible ! 

in.  Can  a  rule  of  faith  which  generates  the  most  deplorable  ignorance  and  revolting 
profligacy,  proceed  from  the  fountain  of  all  light  and  holiness  ? 

In  every  Roman  catholic  country,  the  priesthood,  according  to  the  letter  of  instruc- 
tion, and  oath  of  office,  direct  their  unmitigated  hostility  against  these  two  things; 
namely,  the  promiscuous  reading  of  the  holy  Bible :  and  the  universal  education  of 
the  people.  "  The  Bible  shall  not  be  given  to  the  people  :  the  laity  shall  never  be 
permitted  to  read  the  scriptures,  when,  and  as  they  please;"  "education  shall  not  be 
given  to  the  people  universally  :  we  are  the  fountain  of  knowledge :  we  the  catholic 
priests  have  the  keys  ; — we  have  the  keeping  of  God's  will  and  secrets  :  and  we  let 
the  light  out,  orally,  as  we  please !  Education  and  reading  the  Bible  only  make 
heretics  !  The  more  intelligent  the  people  are  made  by  reading,  the  nearer  are  they 
to  damnation!"  This  is  on  every  priest's  lips:  it  is  the  burden  of  their  preaching; 
and  of  their  every  day  conversation. 

The  pope,  in  his  late  Circular,  denounced  Bible  Societies,  as  "the  device  of  the 
devil."  And  his  priests,  as  in  duty  bound,  by  their  oaths,  re-echo  this  hostility  to  the 
Bible,  and  to  education,  every  where.  And  in  our  own  land,  as  well  as  in  Italy,  and 
Spain,  the  priesthood  are  laboriously  employed  in  watching  over  their  flocks:  not  in 
instructing  them  ;  not  in  meliorating  their  condition;  not  in  communicating  education 
and  industrious  habits  :  but  in  checking  the  dangerous  inroads  of  light;  and  the  fatal 
consequences  of  universal  education !  And  in  those  places  where  the  influence  of 
Protestants  constrains  them  to  open  schools,  what  do  they  teach  the  youthful  spirits 
of  our  land  ?  To  say  ten  thousand  Ave  Marys :  to  pray  to  innumerable  idols  :  to 
hate  and  execrate  the  English  version  of  the  Bible  ;  to  hate  and  abhor  Protestants:  to 
own  the  pope's  and  priest's  unlimited  despotism :  to  consider  the  pope's  and  priest's 
power  above  that  of  our  President :  and  all  our  governors :  and  all  the  magistracy  of 
the  land  :  that  our  government  and  magistrates,  being  heretics  are  merely  usurpers  ; 
that  the  time  is  coming  when  they  shall  gain  ascendency,  and  shall  crush  all  hereti- 
cal rulers !    And,  yet,  these  men  would  wish  to  have  money  from  our  public  funds, 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  12(? 

paid  by  the  taxes  levied  on  Protestants,  to  support  these  nunneries,  and  seminaries, 
where  these  principles  are  taught,  subversive  of  all  order  in  Europe,  and  America. 

The  people  who  are  imbued  with  popery,  are,  generally  speaking,  more  ignorant, 
and  far  more  ferocious  than  those  of  ancient  pagan  Egypt,  Greece,  or  Rome.  And  ia 
point  of  idolatry,  superstition  and  morals,  the  pagan  Greeks  and  Romans  were  far 
purer,  and  more  refined !  The  proof  of  this  meets  the  eye  of  every  traveller  in  Swit- 
zerland, Italy,  Spain,  and  in  bleeding  Ireland.  Poverty  is  the  child  of  Romish  idola- 
try and  superstition.  In  the  Eastern  despotism,  the  tyrant  robs  the  subject  of  the  fruits 
of  industry ;  and  paralizes  all  his  efforts.  In  popish  communities,  the  priest  fleeces 
the  obedient  flocks ;  and  paralyzes  the  arm  of  industry.  Add  to  this,  that  there  are 
many  saint  days,  and  lady  days,  and  holy  festival  days,  when  no  man  truly 
Roman  cathohc,  dare  follow  his  lawful  avocations.  These  do  almost  cut  off  the  poor 
man's  little  income,  and  make  him  miserably  poor.  And,  then,  patron  saints'  days 
are  closed  with  brutal  revelry  and  debauchery !  They  glorify  their  saints  and  idols, 
by  fighting,  gambling,  swearing,  blasphemies,  and  brutish  drunkenness.  Look  for 
proof  of  this,  to  Rome,  Naples,  Madrid,  the  South  of  Ireland,  and  that  portion  of  father 
Levins'  parish,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Cathedral,  and  at  the  place  called  "  the  Fiv9^ 
Points,''''  in  New  York. 

We  formerly  quoted  the  lives  of  the  popes,  and  shovv'ed  out  of  your  own  writers, 
Baronius  and  Guiciardini,  that  "He  was  usually  deemed  a  good  pope  who  did  not 
excel  in  wickedness  the  worst  of  the  human  kind."  And  he  being  the  great  fountain 
head  of  impurity, — pollution  naturally  flowed,  through  his  accredited  priesthood,  as 
a  dead  sea  over  all  the  land.  The  moral  infamy  of  a  church  must  be  consummat©, 
when,  by  the  decree  of  pope  Paul  III.,  houses  which  I  cannot  name,  were  openly 
licensed ;  and  60,000  infamous  beings  yielded  their  immense  revenue  of  wickedness 
to  the  pope's  treasures.  And  it  is  so  in  Rome,  unto  this  day.  These  licences  aftbrd 
large  revenues  to  "  the  holy  father.''''  It  is  a  truth  notorious  at  Rome,  that  he  receiver 
the  one  third  of  the  profits  weekly,  and  annually,  from  these  licensed  haunts  of  infamy. 

And  it  has  been  a  subject  of  amusement  to  those  who  are  intimate  with  our  priests, 
to  hear  their  affectation  and  prudery  about  the  admirable  little  narrative  "Lorette,  or 
the  daughter  of  a  Canadian  Nun."  They  call  it  "an  obscene  fiction."  What!  A 
Roman  catholic'priest  affecting  to  have  his  modesty  shocked  at  ^'Lorettc,'^  a  moral  and 
instructive  narrative  of  facts!  A  priest  shocked  at  imaginary  "obscenity," — into 
whose  ears  and  imagination,  and  heart,  is  daily  poured,  at  the  confessional,  as  into  a 
common  sewer,  all  that  is  impure,  polluting,  and  loathsome,  in  a  whole  parish. 
"  Credat  Judaeus  Apelles,  non  ego." 

Let  any  one  take  up  Paschal's  Provincial  letters,  and  that  book  sold  in  our  book- 
stores, called  "  Secrtta  Monita, — The  secret  instructions  of  the  Jesuits ;"  and  let  him 
read  the  extracts  out  of  the  336  Jesuit  writers,  on  morality,  and  he  will  easily  discover 
that  paganism,  counting  in  even  Sodam  and  Gomorrah,  had  nothing  to  equal  Ro- 
mish doctrines,  and  Jesuit  criminality. 

I  took  up  the  two  folio  volumes  of  Ludovicus  Molina,  the  other  day,  and  rea/3  a 
passage  to  a  friend  of  mine,  out  of  the  1150  page,  2nd  volume,  in  Latin  ;  to  give  him 
an  idea  of  the  moral  instructions  given  to  servants, — as  he  had  some  Roman  catholic 
servants  in  his  family.  I  then  turned  to  the  extract  out  of  Cardenas,  Crisis  Theolog. 
Diss.  23,  cap.  2,  p.  474 ;  and  there  read  to  him  what  is  instilled  into  the  ears  of  the 
"  simple  faithful,"  of  the  confessional,  that  he  might  know  how  to  trust  these  women 
who  make  confessions  to  expelled  Jesuits.     Heru  are  the  words. — "  Servants  ma^ 


13Q  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

secretly  steal  from  their  masters  as  much  as  thej'-  judge  their  labor  is  worth,  moT9 
than  the  wages  they  receive."  "  In  good  earnest,"  exclaimed  my  friend,  "  one  of  my 
domestics,  who  is  quite  punctual  in  going  to  confession,  has  been  reducing  this  literally 
into  practice.  I  have  detected  this  Roman  catholic  woman  robbing  me,  to  some  con- 
siderable amount." 

"  She  acted  upon  principle,"  said  I,  "  and  is  an  apt  scholar  :  the  priest  shrieves  her, 
and  receives  his  boon." 

I  read  him  some  more  extracts.  Here  they  are  :  "A  man  is  not  bound  to  restore 
what  he  has  stolen  in  small  suras,  however  large  may  be  the  total."  See  Tam- 
bur.  Explic.  Decal.  Lib.  8,  p.  205.  Again  : — "  A  woman  may  take  the  property  of 
her  husband  to  supply  her  spiritual  wants,  and  to  act  as  other  women."  That  is, 
women,  who  are  more  punctual  in  confessing  to  the  priest  than  men  are,  may  rob  to 
pay  holy  father  confessor.  See  Gordonus,  Theol.  Mor.  Univ.  p.  826.  Again  :— 
"After  a  son  has  robbed  secretly  his  father,  as  a  compensation,  the  confessor  need  not 
enforce  restitution,  if  he  has  taken  no  more  than  the  just  reward  of  his  labor."  See 
Fran.  Xavier  Fegeli  p.  158.  And  the  followmg  will  show  how  a  Jesuit  feels  toward 
magistrates : — "A  priest  cannot  be  forced  to  give  his  testimony  before  a  secular  judge." 
See  Taberna  vol.  2,  p.  288.  And  Tamburinus,  Lib.  3,  p.  27.  teaches  that,—"  the 
judge  is  not  a  competent  lawful  authority  to  receive  the  testimony  of  ecclesiastices." 
Emmanuel  Sa  teaches  in  Aphor.  p.  41.  That  "  the  rebellion  of  Roman  priests  is  not 
treason,  because  they  are  not  subject  to  civil  government."  Airault  Cens.  p  319. 
teaches  this  doctrine  of  assassination, — "If  a  calumniator  will  not  cease  to  publish 
calumnies,  you  may  fitly  kill  him,  not  publicly,  but  secretly,  to  avoid  scandal."  And 
Escobar  in  his  Theol.  Moral,  vol.  iv.  p.  274,  taught  that, — "  it  is  lawful  to  kill  an  accuser 
whose  testimony  may  jeopard  your  life  and  honor."  And  to  consummate  their  vil- 
lainous doctrine,  Busembaum  and  Lecroix  in  Theol.  Moral,  vol.  i.  p.  295,  tedch  this 
doctrine  of  devils :  "In  all  the  above  cases  where  a  man  has  a  right  to  kill  any  person, 
another  may  do  it  for  him,  if  affection  move  the  murderer  !" 

I  beo-  leave  to  add  here,  w4iatour  unsuspecting  fellow-citizens  will  scarcely  believe; 
but  it  can  be  fully  proved  from  the  standard  writings  of  the  Romish  church ; — it  is 
this,  all  Jesuits  and  papists  (I  mean  priests  and  those  bigots  who  obey  them)  believe 
that  the  property  of  all  Protestants,  being  heretics,  is  forfeited,  and  belongs  of  right, 
to  "Holy  Mother  Church,"  just  as  in  monarchies  where  the  man's  property  is  confis- 
cated, who  is  guilty  of  high  treason.  Hear  their  words: — "  Every  christian  govern- 
ment as  soon  as  they  openly  abandon  the  Roman  faith  instantly  are  degraded  from 
all  power  and  dignity,  by  human  and  divine  right."  Philop.  Respons.  ad  Edict,  p. 
106.  That  is,  the  Roman  catholics  may  seize  on  their  power  and  means.  Bellar- 
mine  teaches,  as  we  have  already  seen,  in  Lib.  v.  cap.  6,  that  the  Pope  has  the  chief 
power  of  disposing  of  the  temporal  affairs  of  all  christians,  &c."  And  Pope  Innocent 
VIII.  in  his  sanguinary  bull,  by  which  he  sent  a  crusade  of  armed  bandits,  to  extirpate 
the  Waldenses,  in  the  year  1487,  "  gave  a  full  and  entire  license,"  to  his  Nuntio, 
"to  grant  to  every  one  of  the  soldiers  of  the  crusade,  a  permission  to  seize  and  freely 
possess  the  goods,  moveable  and  immoveable  :  and  to  give  them  for  a  prey,  whatever 
the  heretics  have  brought  to  the  lands  of  the  papists."  He  then  proceeds  to  say  that 
all  who  are  bound  by  contract,  to  assign  and  pay  any  thing  to  them  (the  Waldenses) 
are  set  entirely  free  from  such  bonds,  to  keep  and  possess  what  belongs  to  them. 

I  shall  sum  up  the  moral  character  of  Jesuitism,  which  has  been  thirty-nine  times' 
d>olished  and  expelled  from  the  different  governments  of  Europe :  and  in  doing  this^ 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  131 

I  shall  employ  the  high  authority  of  the  Arret  of  the  Parliament  of  France  in  1762, 
when  it  extirpated  the  Jesuits.  "  The  consequences  of  their  doctrines  destroy  the  law 
of  nature :  break  all  the  bonds  of  civil  society :  authorizing  lying,  theft,  perjury,  the 
utmost  uncleanness,  murder,  and  all  sins !  Their  doctrines  root  out  all  sentiments  of 
humanity :  excite  rebellion :  root  out  all  religion :  and  substitute  all  sorts  of  supersti- 
tion, blasphemy,  irreligion,  and  idolatry."  Such  is  the  declaration  of  the  ParUament 
of  Paris.     See  the  Secret  Instructions  of  the  Jesuits,  Appendix  p.  111.  &c. 

Now,  this  order,  the  most  daring  and  outrageous  of  all  the  Monkish  orders, — which 
had  turned  the  governments  of  Europe  into  fields  of  blood,  and  which  has  been  ba- 
nished from  every  country  of  Europe, — was  revived,  and  organized  by  Pope  Pius 
VII.,  in  1814.  And  I  earnestly  beg  all  my  fellow-citizens  to  be  assured  that  it  has 
been  revived,  and  is  now  employed  with  all  its  accustomed  diabolical  cunning  emd 
power,  to  gain  over  the  U.  States  under  the  jjapal  yoke  !  And  amid  various  facilities, 
they  are  availing  themselves  of  the  perfect  religious  liberty  of  our  Republic,  to  carry  on 
a  deep  conspiracy  against  the  Protestant  religion,  and  our  ci\il  liberty.  It  is  a  tremen- 
dous sword,  the  hilt  of  which  is  at  Rome !  Every  vessel  that  arrives  brings  in  multi- 
tudes of  Jesuit  priests  in  disguise.  And  all  of  them  conspire  in  aiming  a  tremendous 
blow,  which,  if  God  prevent  not,  and  ward  off  from  our  slumbering  fellow-citizens, 
will  fall,  one  day,  with  the  horror  of  a  SkuUabog,  an  Irish,  and  Parisian  massacre ! 

Now,  you  have  hitherto  performed  unmatched  feats  of  vituperation :  will  you  permit 
me,  gentlemen,  to  beg  you  to  meet  my  charges  and  arguments.  I  have  copied  my 
extracts  from  your  own  books.  Disprove  and  refute  them,  if  the  tiling  can  be  done. 
It  can  be  done  only  by  abjuring  your  own  books ;  or  detecitng  false  quotations ;  meet 
them  logically :  or  frankly  tell  us  the  truth  that  you  cannot.  Either  alternative 
requires,  I  fear,  more  courage  than  what  you  possess. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


Our  priests  had  already  given  frequent  indications  of  a  desire  to  retreat.  They  only 
wanted,  and  they  were  earnestly  seeking,  a  suitable  pretext.  We  had  stated  their  doctrines 
and  ceremonies  in  strong  language,  it  is  true:  but  this,  it  is  believed,  was  fully  sustained  by 
quotations  from  their  own  books.  "  The  greater  the  truth,  the  greater  the  libel."  This 
quaint  maxim  is  understood  by  every  culprit.  Each  development  of  their  true  system  was 
"  slander."  We  were  held  up  to  R.  C.  execration  by  the  priests,  witli  a  view  to  cover  their 
meditated  retreat.  Hints  of  personal  violence  were  often  thrown  out ,  but  no  credit  was 
given  to  the  rumors.  A  remark  in  my  Letter  X.  on  the  vile  scenes  of  the  Confessional,  was 
called  "slanderous,"  simply  because  it  was  too  true  for  the  public  car.  This  brought  a 
repetition  of  sacerdotal  tlireats:  and  the  following  Editorial  Notice  appeared  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  paper,  the  ferocious  design  of  which  was  too  manifest.  This,  together  with  the 
Card,  in  reply,  here  follows. 

"It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Dr.  Brownlee,  a  minister  of  religion,  should  so  far  forget  his 
station  as  to  insult  the  Irish  Catholics  of  tliis  city  in  his  controversial  Letter  of  to-day.  This 
does  not  prove  his  rule  of  faith  or  judge  of  controversy.  His  allusions  to  Catholics  at  the 
Five  Points  are  gross  and  false'.  The  Irish  catliolics  of  this  city  have  feelings,  and  he  should 
respect  them.  If  the  honor  and  dignity  connected  with  his  sacred  station  do  not  urge  him 
to  the  expression  of  truth,  they  should  suggest  pruflcncc.  Sucii  allusions  as  he  makes  to  the 
Five  Points  are  insults  to  Irish  Catholics;  and  insults  may  excite  a  spirit  which  he  cannot 
suppress ; — insults  are  not  always  endured  by  Irishmen." 


132  ROMA^  CAtHOLtC  CONTROVERST. 

"The  Doctor  is  informed  that  a  foul  allusion  to  the  sacrament  of  confession,  is  left  OBI. 

Its  authorship  would  disgrace  tlie  keeper  of  a  brothel." 


A  CARD. 

Te  the  Public. — My  Reverend  opponents,  the  priests,  having  exhausted  their  last  idea ;  and 
'spent  nearly  all  the  fury  of  vituperation,  seem  now  to  have  recourse  to  threats  of  personal 
violence.  This  appears  from  an  extraordinary  article  which  Mr.  Denman  has  seen  fit  to 
admit  under  his  editorial  head;  but  which,  however,  bears  the  usual  attributes  of  father 
Levins's  style ! 

To  eflfect  their  evil  purpose  they  hold  me  up  to  their  partizans,  "  the  rabble,"  as  guilty  of 
outraging  the  feelings  of"  Irishmen."  This  I  solemnly  deny;  and  it  is  too  ridiculous  to  need 
a  sei-ious  refutation.  It  is  enough  for  me  to  state  that  among  my  numerous  personal  friends 
I  number  many  "Irishmen"  whom  I  love  and  honor.  I  know  the  noble  traits  of  a  genuine 
Irishman's  character :  and  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  insult  their  feelings.  And  I  tell  the 
Priests  and  their  Englishman  Editor  that  every  sensible  man  in  the  Roman  catholic  commu- 
nity knows  that  I  am  incapable  of  insulting  an  Irishman's  feelings !  It  is  "Priestcraft," 
and  its  unenviable  attributes  that  I  deem  fair  game  ;  because  it  is  the  greatest  enemy  to  our 
free  institutions,  and  our  religious  liberties  ' 

But,  is  it  possible  that  Irishmen  do  not  see  through  this  thin  veil  of  hypocrisy  ?  Who  does 
not  see  that  Mr.  Denman,  and  his  priests  have  here  offered  the  most  outrageous  insult  to  an 
Irishman's  feelings!  They  have  here,  identified  the  character  of  Irishmen,  with  the  charac- 
ter of  the  "  Five  Points."  Who  ever  deemed  any  connection  between  the  two,  until  Mr. 
D.  and  his  ghostly  advisers  have  declared  that  he  who  speaks  against  the  "Five  Points," 
does  insult  an  Irishman's  feelings  ?  In  all  the  annals  of  vituperation  there  never  was  a 
greater  insult  offered  to  Irishmen  than  this,  from  Mr.  Denman  and  his  Priests ! 

But,  it  is  impossible  not  to  see  the  design  of  this  article  in  tlie  last  "  Truth  Teller."  There 
is,  in  it,  a  characteristic  threat  of  personal  violence ;  it  rouses  to  deeds  of  violence  and 
blood !  But  we  are  not  in  Italy  or  Spain !  We  are  in  New  York,  where  the  laws  reign ! 
For  my  part,  these  threats  move  not  me;  the  word  fear,  I  do  not  know  the  meaning  of.  I 
shall  follow,  in  my  humble  course,  the  immortal  Luther.  I  shall  go  with  him  even  to  the 
city  of  "Worms ;"  and  with  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague;  even  to  "  Constance ;"  and  I  shall 
go,  as  Luther  said' — "  were  there  as  many  devils  in  my  way,  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  houses !" 
And  let  them  venture  on  the  execution  of  their  sanguinary  threats  I  I  do  solemnly  warn 
them  in  the  face  of  the  New  York  community,  that  the  first  Protestant  blood  that  is  shed 
here,  will  raise  a  flame  Avhich  all  the  waters  of  the  Hudson  will  not  quench ! 

I  ought  to  add  that  the  priests  ordered  Mr.  Denman  to  strike  out  a  sentence  in  Letter  X. ; 
and  it  is  presented  in  a  garbled  form  to  the  public  in  the  Catholic  paper;  and,  moreover,  he 
assigns  a  reason  for  doing  this,  in  impure  language,  such  as  none  but  an  expelled  Jesuit  could 
employ.  The  banished  sentence  is  restored  toils  place:  and  the  public  can  judge  of  it» 
truth  and  relevancy. 

But,  after  all,  what  is  "  the  head  and  front  of  my  offending,"  which  has  called  forth  this 
threat  of  violence,  from  the  priests  and  their  editor  ?  Simply  this :  In  the  following  Letter 
I  only  ventured  to  compare  the  state  of  morals  at  Rome,  Naples,  Madrid,  and  the  South  of 
Ireland,  with  those  of  the  "  Five  Points"  in  our  city !  Now  had  Mr.  Levins  been  capable 
of  duly  appreciating  the  morals  of  all  ultra  Roman  catholic  countries ;  and  had  he  been  pos- 
sessed of  the  common  sentiments  of  courtly  gratitude,  he  would,  instead  of"  bloody  threats," 
have  made  me  one  of  his  best  bows ;  and  heartily  thanked  me  for  putting  him,  and  this  holy 
portion  of  his  parish,  into  such  good  company  ! ! 

I  am  respectfully, 

W.  C.  BROWNLEE. 


ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  133 


EXTRACTS   FROM  THE  PRIESTS'  LETTER  X. 

This  letter  occupies  nearly  five  columns  of  a  common  newspaper  size.  It  contains  the 
following  subjects: — 

1.  Personal  invectives  without  O'ConncVs  eloquence,  or  CohheVs  degant  polish!  We  pre- 
sent a  specimen. 

"  In  your  last,  you,  the  intimate  with  the  "  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost," 
have  out-Brownleed  Brownlee.  The  merit  is  great,  and  only  a  Brownlee  could  have 
achieved  it." 

'•Tlic  liberty  of  conscience  conferred  by  your  "ever  blessed  Reformation"  must  not  be. 
checked,  or  controled." 

"  The  consciousness  of  defeat  is  evident,  in  every  paragraph  of  your  last.  There  are  the 
ascerbity  of  mind,  the  sourness  of  temper,  the  sullenness  of  disposition,  the  recklessness  of 
trutii,  the  indifference  to  character,  the  unblushing  assertion,  the  faithlessness  in  citing  au- 
tiiority,  the  wilfulness  that  would  inflict  injury  and  the  suggestion  that  would  affix  a  stain  to 
character,  which  ever  have  been  the  last  resources  of  ungenerous  minds,  Avhen  writhing 
under  disgrace,  defeat  and  overthrow,— when  tortured  by  the  worm  that  never  dies." 

There  is  in  "  your  notorious  tenth,  the  deep  toned  growl  of  Calvinistic  peace  and  love, 
Tittered  by  the  religious  minister,  who  vaunts  familiarity  with  an  interior  spirit,  intimacy 
with  the  '  HebrcAv  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  and  fellowship  with  '  highly  intelligent 
and  '  virtuous  ladies.'  For  shift  and  subterfuge,  contradiction  and  falsehood,  joined  to  un- 
<^entlemanlike  language,  bold  calumnies,  and  rancorous  malice,  it  stands  unrivalled.  So 
much  of  these  bitter  and  damning  elements  we  never  expected  to  meet  with  in  any  human 
being,  much  less  in  a  predestined  clergyman  treating  of  the  concerns  of  religion." 

Such  is  our  priests'  gratitude  for  our  painful  inquiry  into  the  origin  and  tendency  of  their 
novel  system  !     This  personality  occupies  upwards  of  a  column  and  a  half. 

2.  There  follows  Luther  again  with  the  rejected  epistle  of  St.  James  :  and  the  German 
Bible,  in  one  fourth  of  a  column. 

3.  Their  vindication  of  the  authorised  Douay : — 

"  Dr.  B.  says  the  '  Douay  Bible  is  unauthorised  by  the  pope  and  church:'  and  this  is  the 
inference  you  deduce  from  your  ignorance  of  the  scholastic  term  proposed  to  you  I  The 
Douay  Bible  printed  by  Mr.  John  Doyle,  in  this  city  has  been  approved  by  the  catholic  bishop  of 
New  York,  and  by  the  bishop  of  South  Carolina.  It  was  printed  from  a  copy  of  the  Douay 
Bible  approved  by  the  catholic  bishop  of  Dublin.  The  Bible  printed  in  Philadelphia  was 
approved  by  the  bishop  of  that  city.  The  Douay  Bible  in  England  is  approved  and  sanctioned 
by  the  catholic  bishops  in  England,  and  what  they  and  other  bishops  approve  and  sanction 
is  autharised  by  the  Pope,  for  they,  immediately  under  the  pope,  are  the  guardians  of  the  catho- 
lic religion.  Will  you  again  repeat  to  the  members  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Ciiurch  and  your 
'  christian  public'  this  slander  and  falsehood  ?" 

4.  The  rest  of  the  letter,  about  two  closely  printed  columns,  contains  a  renewed  Jkttaok.il 
possible,  more  virulent  than  ever,  on  the  perfection  of  the  holy  scriptures:  they  are  declared 
to  be  utterly  inadequate,  as  a  rule:  they  cannot  settle  the  meaning  of  certain  expressions,  as 
"  this  is  my  body,'' — "  born  of  water  and  the  spirit,"  &c. :  thej'-cannot  settle  one  of  the  great 
points  of  controversy  between  the  Roman  catholic  church  and  Protestants:  they  cannot 
throw  lighten  certain  jioints  by  reason  of  their  obscurity  :  they  cannot  even  remove  the  ap- 
parent contradictious  in  them.  Finally,  after  repeating  the  three  questions,  so  often  an- 
swered, "  How  do  you  know  the  Bible  to  be  the  tcord  of  God,''  &c.  they  close  in  this  language  : 

"  But  the  scripture  cannot  prove  either  the  canonicity,  or  the  authenticity,  or  the  inspira- 
tion of  its  own  books  ;— therefore,  our  consistent  theologian  cannot  believe  in  the  canoni- 
city, authenticity,  divinity,  or  inspiration  of  scriptures  ;  tiit-refore,  his  rule  makes  him  a 
Deist!" 

"'  Sufficient  proof  has  been  given  in  our  letters,  that  Preacher  BrownIee"s  Protestant  rule 

13 


334  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY- 

of  faith  cannot  be  a  safe  guide  to  a  future  world ; — it  establishes  no  basis  for  divine  faith ;— if 
followed,  it  BiusT  guide  to  deism  and  infidelity." 

^'What  shall  be  the  next  subject  of  discussion  between  us,  and  preacher  Brownlee?" 
'•Having  disposed  of  his  rule  of  faith,  or,  in  oilier  words,  the  foundation  of  his  religion, 
the  next  topic  evidently  is,  What  are  the  articles  of  creed  determined  by  his  rule  of  faith, 
which  must  be  believed  in  order  to  secure  salvation  ?     Will  the  Preacher  refuse  to  enter 
on  this  matter  ?     If  he  do  he  will  act  iiTationally.     We  wish  to  be  illumined." 

This  is  a  mere  ruse  du  guerre.  The  priests  are  meditating  a  retreat  from  the  arena,  and 
they  are  planning  a  pretext  to  cover  their  retreat.  Hence  they  say  in  the  close  of  their  let- 
ter:—" Should  the  Preacher  in  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  dechne  discussion  on  this  subject, 
our  direct  controversy  with  him  is  terminated." 


,  LETTER  XI. 

TO    DOCTORS    POWER,    AND    VARELA,    AND    MR.    LEVINS. 

f  "  Gia  Roma,  hor  Babilonia  falsa,  e  ria,  &c. — 

■"Formerly  Rome,  now  Babylon,  false  and  guilty — 
Hell  of  the  living !     It  will  be  a  great  miracle. 
If  Christ  is  not  angry  with  thee  at  last!" 

Petrarch,  torn.  4.  p.  149 

Gentlemen: — In  your  last  Letter  you  have  exhibited  a  paralysis :  and  have  almost 
given  up  the  ghost.  I  have  gone  over  your  epistle  twice ;  and  I  deliberately  affirm, 
that  no  man,  Protestant  or  Catholic,  can  discover  one  new  idea:  or  an  approach  to  a 
reply  to  any  one  of  my  arguments,  against  your  rule,  and  the  fanaticism  of  your  sect. 
In  the  close,  you  repeat,  in  a  condensed  form,  the  one  all  pervading,  and  one  only 
solitary  idea,  which  has  ever  yet  appeared  in  your  ten  Letters  :  it  is  this : — "  Preacher 
Brownlee's  Protestant  rule," — that  is  to  say,  God's  inspired  AVord,  and  the  Almighty 
speaking  to  us  in  it, — "cannot  be  a  safe  guide  to  the  future  world:  his  Protestant 
i-iile,"— that  is,  the  inspired  scripture,  and  the  Almighty  speaking  in  them  to  us,— 
"  if  followed,  must  guide  to  deism  and  infidelity !"  Thus  then,  you  dehberately  affirm* 
for  the  tenth  time,  that  God  speaking  to  man  in  his  own  Word,  "  must  guide  to  deism 
and  infidelity !" 

Will  the  force  of  public  opinon  have  no  influence  in  checking  this  infidelity,  and 
blasphemy  ?  Let  any  one  read  the  speech  of  the  blasphemous  Assyrian,  Rabshakeh, 
and  then  say,  if  he  can  there  discover  any  thing  worse  than  this  mockery  of  God's 
lioly  Word,  and  the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost ! 

I  have  drawn  you  into  the  net,  at  last,  in  the  affair  of  the  Douay  Bible.  You 
affirm  that  your  "  bishop's"  permission  is  "  pontifical"  authority !— With  men  thus 
reckless  of  truth,  no  measured  terms  can  be  observed !  Do  you,  then,  venture  to  affirm 
that  "a  bishop's"  authority  is  "the  Pope's"  authority?  You  know  that  no  bishop 
can  give  pontifical  authority  to  any  book.  And  your  leading  men  in  Britain  have 
pronounced  that  to  be  a  falsehood  which  you  have  asserted.  I  now  give  you  the 
names.  Dr.  Poynter,  titular  bishop  of  London,  declared  on  his  solemn  oath,  before 
the  committee  of  the  British  House  of  Commons,  that,  "there  is  no  English  version 
of  the  Bible,  at  all,  authorised  by  the  See  of  Rome."  And  Dr.  Troy,  your  Archbishop 
of  Dublin  published  under  his  proper  signature,— and  Dr.  Doyle,  on  his  solemn  oath, 
that  "  the  notes  of  the  Douay  Bible  are  of  no  authority  whatever !"  Thus  your  lead- 
ing men  in  Britain,  give  you  the  lie!     And  thas,  there  is  most  satisfactory  evidence 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  135 

that  the  "Douay  Bible"  is  a  mere  hoax,  and  an  imposture,  palmed  on  the  simplicity 
of  Protestants  !  I  am  reduced  to  the  alternative  of  either  insulting  your  intellectual 
power,  or  of  affirming  that  each  of  you  knows  this  to  be  the  most  certain  truth. 

And  hov?-  can  you  reconcile  your  young  and  unfledged  zeal  for  the  use  of  the  Bible, 
in  the  hands  of  your  people,  in  their  vernacular;  and  for  "the  authorised  Yeision  of  the 
Douay,"  with  your  sworn  allegiance  to  the  pope  and  Tridentine  fathers  ?  You  have  the 
fourth  "  Title  of  the  congregation  of  the  Index,''  lyingbefore  your  eyes.  By  the  yontifocat 
authority,  the  highest  with  all  Romish  priests,  be  it  in  heaven  or  earth,  it  is  thus  declar- 
e<.i, — '*  It  is  manifest  from  experience  that  if  the  sacred  Bible,  translated  into  the  vulgar 
tongue,  be  indiscriminately  allowed  to  every  one,  the  temerity  of  men  will  cause  more 
etrr7  than  good  to  arise  from  it." 

Now,  with  the  example  of  these  priests  in  England  and  Ireland  before  you,  and 
this  notorious  canon  of  the  council  of  Trent,  it  unquestionably  required  no  small 
degree  of  assurance  to  tell  the  American  public  what  you  did,  relative  to  "  the  authorised 
Douay  Bible!"  Yes.  the  Bible,  in  English,  is  a  prohibited  book,  by  the  pope  and  a 
council.  And,  yet,  your  very  bishops,  who  have  sworn  the  solemn  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  spiritual  autocrat  of  Rome,  and  recorded  their  pledge,  on  pain  of  damnation,  to 
execute,  even  to  the  letter,  every  one  of  his  laws, — have  publicly  declared  that  they 
do  permit,  and  even  recommend  this  'prohibited  English  version  !  And  our  priests, 
for  reasons  best  known  to  themselves,  if  not  for  popular  effect,  are  not  ashamed  to  pro- 
claim the  treacherous  knavery.  Were  similar  conduct  exhibited  publicly  as  this  is, — 
in  any  common  monied  transaction,  it  would  cover  our  bishops,  and  our  priests,  in 
every  virtuous  circle  of  American  society,  with  perpetual  infamy. 

I  shall  now  go  on  with  the  subject  of  your  church's  Superstition  and  Imposture. 

Charles  Butler,  Esq.  the  author  of  "The  Book  of  the  R.  catholic  church,"  says: — 
"  May  I  not  ask  if  it  be  either  just  or  generous  to  harass  the  present  catholics,  with 
tlie  wealvness  of  the  ancient  writers  of  their  communion;  and  to  attempt  to  render 
their  religion  and  themselves  odious,  by  these  unceasing  and  offensive  repetitions !" 
This  has  been  also  said  by  our  priests  in  their  Letter  IX. 

Were  these  superstitions,  and  miracles,  and  this  fanaticism,  publicly  disowned,  and 
condemned  by  your  church,  you  should  never  hear  of  them  from  us.  But  all  these 
false  miracles  and  endless  superstitions  are  printed  in  your  "Breviary,"  used  weekly 
in  your  worship  :  they  are  read  in  Latin  weekly  ;  applauded,  defended,  prayed  over» 
and  believed  by  you,  and  owned  by  C.  Butler  himself;  even  while  he  wrote  the  above 
sentence  !  Your  popes  applaud  them,  and  on  the  faith  of  these  miracles  they  canon- 
ized tlie  saints  which  you  worship.  Your  bishops  own  and  applaud  them,  and  pro- 
nounce  their  anathema  on  all  those  who  disbelieve  any  one  part,  or  parcel  of  all  the 
fanaticism  which  I  quoted.  Only, — they  are  all  in  Latin !  Locked  up  are  they,  from 
common  view  and  public  execration,  in  Latin!  Every  Saint's  day,  Drs.  Power, 
and  Varela  and  Mr.  Levins,  pray  over  these  very  superstitions,  and  fanaticism,  and 
miracles: — even  while  they  publicly  call  them  "silly,  dream}'-  legends!"  You 
cannot  deny  your  "Breviary!"  You  cannot  disown  your  book, — the  "Acta  Sancto- 
rum." 

Let  the  honesty,  therefore,  of  Mr.  Butler,  in  the  above  appeal,  and  that  of  our 
priests,  pass  for  what  it  is  worth. 

In  addition  to  my  former  observations,  I  have  now  to  state  : — 4th.  That  the  Super- 
gtition  of  the  Romish  church  confirms  the  melancholy  evidence  of  her  utter  apostacy 
from  the  only  rule  of  faith.     "  Superstition,"  says  Bishop  Hall, — "  is  godless  religion : 


136  ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTRO^'ERST. 

devout  impiety  :  the  superstitious  is  fond  in  observation  :  servile  in  fear :  he  worshipaf 
God,  but  as  he  Usts :  he  offers  to  God  what  he  asks  not;  and  all  but  what  he  should 
ffive;  and  makes  more  sin  than  do  the  ten  commandments  I"  In  your  church,  gen- 
tlemen, there  is  every  gradation  of  this  vice,  from  the  sober  burlesque,  even  to  the  deep 
tragic  flagellation,  and  penance.     It  is,  as  we  shall  prove,  one  mass  of  superstition. 

For  instance,  it  is  a  part  of  your  religion,  to  baptize  bells,  before  they  are  set  up. 
I  have  before  me  some  instructive  instances  of  this :  particularly  those  that  took  place 
of  the  latest  dates,  in  Canada  and  Naples.  '  A  gaudy  procession  comes  into  the  church, 
with  a  priestly  attire  of  motley  colors ;  like  some  equipped  buffoons  for  the  stage  :  a 
god  father,  and  a  god  mother  stand  up  by  the  Bell,  and  take  the  vows  !  The  dumb 
•thing  is  wetted  in  the  fonn  of  a  cross;  then  crossed  with  "  holy  chrism,"  while  the 
lips  of  the  priest  taking  the  awful  name  of  the  Trinity  in  vain,  baptizes  it  in  the  most 
holy  name !  The  priest  then  gives  three  strokes  with  the  clapper :  the  god  parents  do 
the  same ;  and  then  solemnly  pronounce  the  Bell's  name.  This  farce,  the  disgrace  of 
our  enlightened  day,  is  made,  moreover,  to  subserve  the  cause  of  a  more  degrading 
superstition.  The  sound  of  these  baptized  Bells,  as  you  priests,  gravely  teach  your 
])eople,  fails  not  to  disperse  devils  lurking  in  the  air;  and  make  them  scamper  oflfwith 
incredible  celerity.  It  also,  you  as  gravely  teach,  brings  souls  out  of  purgatory.  All 
Saints'  day  is,  in  Canada,  and  in  all  Roman  cathoHc  lands,  a  great  day  of  ringing 
these  "  baptized  bells,"  and  thereby  bringing  souls  out  of  purgatorial  pains,  and  purg- 
ing the  air  of  devils. 

The  priest's  dresses  also  teem  with  superstition.  Two  things  go  to  secure  the  divine 
efficacy  of  your  rites  and  ceremonies.  One  is  the  priest's  intention  of  soul  to  do  "  what 
the  church"  intends  ;  the  other  is  his  consecrated  dress.  Were  the  priest  to  officiate 
without  the  appropriate  garb:  and  did  that  want  the  "holy  shape,"  and  "the  appro- 
priate holy  color,"  for  the  day  and  occasion,  the  priest  and  laity  would  be  in  a  mortal 
sin.  Without  the  orthodox  shape,  and  color,  they  cannot  be  accepted  by  the  Almighty  : 
but  it  is  of  no  consequence  whether  they  have  religion,  or  even  the  common  decency 
of  morals.  All  your  reUgion  is  in  the  outer  man ;  and  in  ceremony,  and  in  the  color, 
and  shape  of  sacerdotal  dress. 

The  divine  efficacy  of  prayers  uttered  in  the  Latin  tongue,  which  none  of  the  laity 
iniderstand,  is  another  part  of  your  superstition.  You  deem  it  not  at  all  necessary  that 
any  one  of  your  people  offer  up,  in  his  soul,  one  vow,  or  prayer,  with  the  understand- 
in  o".  Indeed  how  can  he  ?  He  understands  not  one  idea  which  you  utter.  The  people 
are  thus  made  a  mere  tool  of:  they  act  without  heart  and  understanding.  They  do 
not  know  one  prayer.  You  mutter  barbarous  Latin  words  over  them.  These  are 
viewed  merely  as  a  charm  ;  a  hocus  pocus  from  the  lips  of  the  sacerdotal  legerdemain. 
This  nurses  the  ignorance  of  an  unmovable  superstition.  The  priest  "  negotiates" 
the  whole  work  of  salvation  for  sinners,  who  go  on  in  a  course  of  impious  morals ;  and, 
at  the  last,  the  priestly  embassy,  they  are  told,  is  honored  in  heaven :  and  the  souls  are 
saved  by  the  virtue  of  outward  mummery ;— and,  provided  all  the  church's  dues  are 
paid,  their  debts  in  heaven  are  cancelled. 

Farther,  the  whole  appendages  of  the  mass  are  one  train  of  superstition.  I  allude, 
mainly  at  present,  to  your  prayers  offered  up  by  your  pious  priests  and  flocks,  to  smnt 
sacrament.  For  be  it  known,  that  the  sacrament  is  converted  into  an  idol:  and 
to  St.  Sacrament  devout  prayers  are  offered.  The  Litany  of  this  saint  is  too 
long  to  be  quoted:  yet  I  cannot  resist  the  desire  of  presenting  a  specimen 
of  these  prayers.     "Bread  corn  of  the  elect,  have  mercy  onus!    Wine  budding: 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROL  ERST.  137 

from  Virgins,  have  mercy  on  us !  Fat  bread,  and  the  dehght  of  kings,  have  mercy 
on  us  !  Cup  of  blessing,  have  mercy  on  us !"  And  so  on.  All  these  prayers  are 
offered,  while  you  bow  down  to  the  bread  and  chalice.  That  is,  they  are  offered  up 
to  the  bread  and  cup !  Tliis  I  venture  to  say,  throws  into  the  shade,  and  fairly  eclipses 
all  pagan  superstition !  "  For  who  ever  heard," — says  Cicero, — '*  of  a  people  making 
a  god  of  that  which  they  eat,  and  then  praying  to  it?'*  But  you  do  make  a  god  of 
bread,  and  then  pray  to  it,  and  then  eat  it ! 

The  use  of  incense  is  a  fragment  of  pagan  superstition.  This  characteristic 
of  popery  strikes  all  who  enter  a  chapel ;  it  is  poured  forth  from  the  altar,  and  the 
wiiimsical  play  of  swinging  the  censor.  In  old  catholic  lands  the  images  of  the 
Romish  saints,  are  as  black  as  the  pagan  saints  in  their  day,  by  this  incessant  smoke. 
Now,  your  use  of  incense  is  not  originated  by  the  custom  of  the  abrogated  ceremonial 
law  of  Moses.  Your  custom  is  purely  pagan.  And  had  you  lived  in  the  times  of 
pagan  Rome,  none  of  you,  verily,  would  have  been  martyrs,  and  none  of  you  even 
deemed  christians !  For  our  ancestors  of  the  pure  primitive  christians,  deemed  it 
strictly  pagan :  and  it  was  even  a  test  resorted  to  by  the  heathen,  to  entrap  a  christian. 
If  any  one  consented  to  burn  incense,  he  avowed  thereby  his  relinquishment  of  Christ- 
ianity ;  and  he  was  let  go  as  a  traitor  to  Christ,  with  the  applause  of  the  heathen  ! 

The  use  of  holt  water  is  another  prominent  superstition.  At  the  door  of  the 
chapel,  each  one  helps  himself  from  the  "holy"  reservoir.  This  is  *tiotoriously  bor- 
rowed from  the  pagan  worship.  "  The  Amula,"  says  Montfaucon,  "  was  the  vase  of 
water  which  stood  at  the  door  of  the  heathen  temple  for  the  same  purpose.  La  Cer- 
das,  in  his  notes  on  the  well  known  passage  of  Virgil  respecting  sprinkling,  saj's, 
"  Hence  is  derived  the  custom  of  Holy  Mother,  to  proAdde  holy  water  at  the  entrance 
of  tlie  chapel,  &c."  Even  the  mixture  is  pagan;  it  was  that  of  salt  and  water!  And 
here  I  remark  again,  that  had  j^ou  lived  in  apostolical  and  early  times,  j'^our  present 
superstition  would  have  saved  you  from  martyrdom ;  and  spared  you  even  the  charge 
of  being  christians.  Dr.  Middleton  has  shown  that  this  was  made  a  test  of  christian 
discipleship :  if  they  refused  spriukling  they  suffered.  And  Julian  Apostate  caused 
the  food  of  christians  to  be  sprinkled  with  "holy  pagan  water;"  and  they  behoved 
either  to  eat  it,  or  starve.     Middleton  p.  1-36 — 140. 

Your  superstition  has  also  engendered  many  charms  and  incantations.  You  are 
noted  for  tliis.  No  thoroughly  devout  Roman  catholic  will  stir  abroad  until  he  has 
crossed  his  shoulders  and  face :  nor  converse  with  heretics,  nor  read  their  books,  until 
he  has  crossed  himself,  and  invoked  his  guardian  saint.  The  whole  of  your  doctrine 
of  saint's  relies,  is  based  on  this  superstition.  They  are  charms  to  keep  devils  and 
*'  bad  luck,"  away  from  the  simple  faithful.  You  maintain  a  brisk  trafic  in  the  arti- 
cle of  tlie  "ag-nws  c/ei," — which  is  made  of  wax,  balsam  and  chrism,  with  the  image 
of  "  tlie  lamb  of  God,"  on  it.  These  Agni  Dei  are  consecrated  by  the  pope,  usu- 
ally in  the  first  year  of  his  ghostly  reign.  And  it  is  no  trifle  that  will  keep  the  faithful 
fn>m  having  them,  or  a  chip  of  them.  Whoever  is  fortunate  enough  to  wear  tbem,  as 
you  teach  your  flocks,  is  "safe  from  all  S])iritual  and  temporal  foes;  from  all  perils 
from  fire  and  water  :  and  from  sudden  and  unshrivcd  death.  They  drive  away  all 
devils,  and  succour  women  in  child  birth  :  nay,  they  wash  away  old  sins,  and  give 
new  grace."  In  evidence  of  this  "See  Franc.  Cost.  Christ.  Instit.  Lib.  4.  cap.  12. 
And  "  Devotion  and  office  of  the  sacred  heart  of  Christ,"  p.  375. — Cramp.  364. 

In  the  French  service  for  "  St.  'Sacrament,"  I  see  a  co])y  of  "two  prayers  which 
were  foiuid  in  Christ's  sepulchre  at  Jerusalem."     x\nd  whoc\er  wears  copies  of  these 


138  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

about  liis  body,  is  perfectly  safe  against  all  the  wiles  of  the  devil :  against  all  storms, 
thunder,  and  lightning,  and  sudden  death !     Gl.  Prot.  No.  60. 

Now,  I  quote  not  private  superstitions,  such  as  the  making  a  sovereign  cure  for 
diseases,  as  is  done  in  Ireland,  out  of  a  piece  of  clay  taken  from  a  priest's  grave,  and 
steeped  in  water ;  nor  the  famous  "  Italian  soup,"  so  late  as  1817,  made  with  a  bit 
of  the  shirt  of  Cardinal  Gonsalvi,  boiled  in  it,  to  remedy  all  pains  and  evils, — made 
and  gravely  believed  in,  at  head  quarters, — namely  at  Rome.  See  Gallifico's  Letters, 
published  in  London,  1812,  by  John  Murray :  and  Glasg.  Prot.  No.  148.  The  super- 
stitions which  I  have  quoted,  are  solemnly  authorised  m  your  books,  as  part  of  your 
belief,  and  ancient  religion. 

Another  peculiarity  of  your  superstition  is  the  use  of  lamps  and  ivax  candles,  in  open 
day,  and  as  a  part  of  holy  rites.  The  origin  of  this  must  strike  every  one,  w^ell  read  in 
the  classics.  The  Pagans  had  their  processions  w^ith  lamps ;  and  tapers  were  kept 
burning,  day  and  night,  before  the  idols.  The  primitive  christians,  you  know,  ridicu- 
led this  custom  of  the  idolatrous  pagans.  Lactantius'  words  I  recommend  to  you,  gen- 
tlemen, and  to  all  your  people.  "  The  heathen  light  up  candles  to  God," — said  this 
primitive  christian  wdth  keen  ridicule, — "as  if  he  lived  in  the  dark!  And  do  they 
not  deserve  to  pass  for  madmen  who  offer  lamps  to  the  Author  and  Giver  of  Hght?" 
See  Middleton  p.  140 — 155.  You  cannot  answer  this  christian  father  in  the  negative. 
Do  you,  then,  and  the  laity,  take  good  heed,  and  see  to  it :  for  you  have  no  commu- 
nion in  this  thing  with  the  ancient  primitive  christians  ?  Your  gods  and  saints  live  in 
the  dark:"  and  "you  light  up  lamps  to  give  them  light." 

Abstaining  from  meats  in  Lent,  and  other  seasons,  is  another  singular  attribute  of 
your  superstition.     Your  religion  being  one  avowedly  made  to  consist  only  in  exter- 
nals, and  one  avowedly  setting  aside  all  piety,  purity,  and  spirituahty  in  the  heart : — 
it  follows,  with  you,  of  course,  contrary  to  our  Saviour's  words,  that  "it  is  not  that 
which  Cometh  out  of  the  heart,  that  defileth  a  man ;"  but  that  meat  which  "  enters 
into  the  mouth!"     This,  you  gravely  affirm,  does  defile  the  man!     Hence  "j^our 
disciples,  on  their  sick  beds,"  as  Bishop  Hall  said; — "  are  troubled  by  no  sin  so  much 
as  by  this,  that  they  did  once  eat  meat  on  a  Friday :  no  repentance  can  expiate  that ; 
the  rest  of  their  sins  need  none!"  p.  171,  works  folio.     But  can  your  people  not  see 
through  the  mist  of  fanaticism, — that  meat,  which  God  has  blessed  and  made  goo<.l  for 
our  use,  can  no  more  defile  the  soul,  than  it  can  spoil  a  fine  thought,  or  coiTupt  a  pure 
idea !     True,  you  repl3%  as  you  lull  them  asleep — this  would  hold  good  if  religion 
were  in  the  heart !     But  our  religion  being  external,  altogether  outward,  and  in  the  acts 
of  the  body,  the  use  of  meats  defiles  our  religious  feelings,  and  spoils  our  devotion ! 
•  The  discipline  and  penance  of  your  church  are  strongly  marked  with  supersti- 
tion.    In  opposition  to  divine  authority  you  insist  on  it,  that  hodily  exercise  is  profita- 
ble to  all  things,  even  to  salvation!     Hence  your  cruel  fastings, — pardon  me,  I  mean 
in  olden  times.     No  charge  can  be  brought  against  modern  priests  that  they  do  not 
know  how  to  live  well!     The  broad  shouldered  and  brawny  priest,  with  the  vermillion 
countenance,  was  never  "fed  on  dry  pease  and  cold  water,"  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  says. 
It  is  on  the  laity  that  your  church  lays  the  healthful  blessings  of  fasting,  and  season- 
able lacerations,  and  flagellations,  with  the  whip !     This  mania  has  occasionally  bro- 
ken  out  in  the  overflowings  of  superstition ;  and  has  drawn  bishops  and  cardinals, 
and  even  kings  into  its  vortex.     A  king  of  France,  and  the  cardinal  Lorrain,  have 
been  knov/n  to  join  the  flagellation,  clothed  in  sackcloth,  and  armed  with  "  the  holy 
and  sanctifying  whip !"     And  historians  tell  us,  that  at  a  certain  season  of  this  disci- 


ROMAN  CATTHOLIC  CONTROVERSt.  139 

pline,  the  lights  in  the  Church  are  at  the  tinkhng  of  a  bell,  extinguished :  then  each 
devotee  seizing  the  inspiring  moment, — strips  bare  the  shoulders;  and  for  an  hour  no- 
thing is  heard  but  the  noise  of  the  well  applied  whip,  either  on  their  shoulders,  or 
— it  may  be, — as  profitably,  on  the  benches  ^\'ithin  their  reach  !  And  if  any  thing  far- 
ther were  necessary-,  I  would  point  to  St.  Patrick's  recorded  macerations  of  the  flesh,  as 
a  striking  instance  of  this  superstition.  Lying  on  the  cold  stones,  under  the  open  air; 
repeating  daily  150  psalms  :  making  300  genuflections,  his  right  hand  performing 
800  motions  in  the  sign  of  the  cross  daily !  and  dividing  the  night  into  three  parts  :  one 
third  on  his  knees :  one  third  sleeping  ;  and  one  third  standing  immersed  in  cold  wa- 
ter !  !     See  the  Rom.  Brev.  March  17.     Thus  St.  Patrick  spent  his  edifying  days ! !  '^' 

But,  by  what  name  shall  I  call  your  worship  paid  to  the  wood  of  the  Cross?  In  the 
holy  scripture,  the  word  cross  is  used  to  express,  1st.,  the  cruel  and  ignominious  death 
of  crucifiction  ;  and  in  this  sense  ''the  tree"  is  "  the  accursed  tree  ;"  and  the  person 
dying  on  it  is,  in  law,  "  cursed  :" — thus  "  cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree  !'* 
And  tliusour  Savior  "was  made  a  curse  for  us,"  to  redeem  us  from  all  sin.  2d.  It  is 
taken  for  the  real  and  perfect  atonement  of  Christ,  because  this  was  fully  accomplished 
on  the  cross.  But  contrary  to  the  sentiments  and  faith  of  the  whole  christian  world, 
the  Romish  church,  makes  the  "cursed  tree,"  not  only  "  a  blessed  tree ;"  but  the 
wood  thereof  is  a  real  object  of  worship,  with  latria;  "  Quia  Debetur  ei  latria."  See 
Pontif.  Rom.  Clem.  8.  Roman  edit.  1595  :  folio.  Finch,  p.  289. 

Here,  I  shall  subjoin  a  specimen  of  your  prayers  offered  up  to  the  wood  or  the 
CROSS.  "  O  Crux,  unica  spes,  &c.  O  Cross,  only  hope;  hail!  in  this  glory  of  thy 
triumph,  give  an.  increase  of  grace  to  the  pious,  and  blot  out  the  crimes  of  the  guilty !" 
Festa  Sept.  14.  "  O  bona  Crux,  &c.  O  good  Cross,  who  hast  obtained  comeliness 
and  beauty  from  the  Lord's  limbs,  receive  me  &c." — Nov.  30th.  And  man3''  of  the 
good  citizens  of  New  York  have  witnessed  this  idolatrous  superstition  in  the  elevation 
of  the  Cross  ;  and  its  being  waved  about  by  a  little  roguish  boy ;  as  he  presented  it  to 
the  prostrate  votaries,  worshipping  a  bit  of  blackened  wood !  "  Behold  the  wood  of 
the  Cross!"  cries  the  priest.  "  Venite,  adoremus!  Come,  let  us  adore  it!"  And 
all  are  on  their  knees :  and  happy  is  that  favorite  one  who  can  only  get  near  enough  to 
kiss  it,  as  he  adores  it ! !  See  Rom.  Brev.  Sat.  of  Passion  week.  There  is  not  a  more 
brutish  superstition  in  the  annals  of  paganism!  I  challenge  any  scholar  to  produce 
its  match  out  of  all  ancient,  or  modern  heathenism  ! 

And  the  Roman  superstition  is  not  confined  to  priests  and  old  women.  The  following 
is  the  prayer  of  the  priest-ridden  ex-king,  Charles  X.  of  France,  at  the  baptism  of  the 
Due  de  Bordeaux  in  1821.  "Let  us  invoke  for  him  the  protection  of  the  mother  of 
God  !  tlie  queen  of  angels !  Let  us  implore  her  to  watch  over  his  days  ;  and  remove 
far  from  his  cradle,  the  misfortunes  which  it  has  pleased  Providence  to  afflict  his  rela- 
tives; and  to  conduct  him  by  a  less  rugged  path  to  eternal  felicity  I"  Shall  I  call  this 
superstition,  or  sheer  atheism !  It  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  revived  Jesuitism  of  France  ! 

The  next  case  is  that  of  Ulric,  Duke  of  Brunswick,  who  in  his  dotage,  took  it  into 
his  head  to  be — not  converted,  for  the  Romish  church  holds  no  such  doctrine, — but 
"  reconciled  to  the  Romish  church."  Never  having  known  the  nature  of  true  religion, 
he  was  easily  seduced  by  the  Jesuits.     He  wrote  a  tract  called  "Fifty  reasons  of  the 

*  That  is,  as  papists  state.  We  deny  that  the  venerable  Patrick  was  any  such  fanatic.  In 
fact,  he  lived  and  taught  in  Ireland,  before  popery  overran  that  country.  We  rank  him  among 
the  pious  and  orthodox  servants  of  Christ.  We  publicly  deny  that  St.  Patrick  teas  a  papist  ! 
The  popish  "Life"  of  this  holy  man,  is  a  disgusting  tissue  of  monkish  fictions  and  falsehoods. 


140  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

Duke  of  Brunswick,  for  preferring  the  Ronaan  Catholic  religion  to  all  other  sects."'' 
The  following  is  his  last  and  crowning  reason,  which  I  copy  literally.  It  exhibits  a- 
new  specimen  of  life  Insurance!  "  The  catholics,  to  whom  I  spoke  concerning  my 
conversion  (to  Romanism)  assured  me"  says  he,  "  that  if  I  were  to  be  damned  for 
embracing  the  catholic  faith,  they  were  ready  to  answer  for  me  at  the  day  of  judg- 
ment; and  to  take  my  damnation  to  themselves;  an  assurance  I  could  never  extort," — 
adds  the  Duke  very  gravely, — "  from  the  ministers  of  any  other  sect,  in  case  I  should 
live  and  die  in  their  religion!"  See  this  book  recommended  by  your  champion.  Dr. 
Milner,  Manch.  edit.  1802. 

Again :  Your  doctrine  of  supererogation  is  abase,  but  profitable  superstition.  Your 
saints  can  not  only  keep  all  the  law  of  God  perfectly  you  say  :  but  even  do  quite  a  great 
deal  over,  and  above,  what  infinite  perfection  requires.  This  is  "the  merits  of  all 
saints  V  It  is  put,  as  you  gravely  teach  your  disciples,  into  one  grand  treasury :  and 
the  pope  keeps  the  ke3'  of  it :  and  he  deals  it  out  by  way  of  indulgences,  absolutions  : — 
and  for  the  help  of  all  who  have  no  merit ;  but  on  the  contrary,  much  guilt.  No  man 
is  refused  his  full  share,  even  to  an  escape  from  purgatory,  and  even  from  hell : — and 
triumphant  entrance  into  heaven, — on  one  small  condition,  namely,  that  he  pay  the 
fall  price  fixed  by  the  holy  chancery  book  of  the  pope  ;  and  the  dictation  of  the  priest, 
in  gold  and  silver! ! !  Shall  I  call  this  superstition?  Or  knavery  ?  Or  both  ?  The 
pope  collects  All  Saints'  merit  into  a  fund  :  and  makes  sale  of  it!  I  gravely  ask  the 
public  if  they  can  name  a  more  barefaced  system  of  knavery,  practiced  on  a  poor  and 
deluded  people,  to  abstract  their  money  from  them,  under  false  pretences?  And  espe- 
cially so,  when  Dr.  Varela,  uncontradicted  by  the  bishop,  and  his  associates,  has  pub- 
lished the  fact,  in  a  newspaper,  "that  it  is  a  doctrine  of  the  Romish  church,  that  the 
priests  do  not  know  who,  or  what  of  their  deceased  parishioners,  are  in  purgator}^!" 
I  therefore,  respectfully  appeal  through  you,  gentlemen,  to  our  fellow  citizens,  of  the 
Roman  catholic  faith,  whether  these  can  be  good  men,  or  possessing  common  honesty 
who  avow,  that  they  do  not  Jcnowivho  are  in  purgatory ;  and  yet  take  your  money  in 
large  sums  for  masses  to  free  your  deceased  relatives  from  that  place !  What  do  you. 
call  the  men  around  you,  who  extort  money  by  false  pretences  ?  Look  to  it.  I  am 
not  your  enemy,  who  put  you  on  your  guard ;  and  tell  you,  that  God  Almighty  asks 
no  money  for  masses,  and  for  pardoning  your  sins.  Will  you  believe  the  priests 
rather  than  God?  Go  to  him  alone,  throughthe  Lord  Jesus  Christ, — He  offers  to  do 
it  "  without  money,  and  without  price."    See  your  own  Douay  Bible,  Isaiah  55,  1. 

Finally : — I  shall  oblige  you  and  my  readers,  with  only  one  instance  more,  of  the 
incurable  superstition  of  your  church.  I  allude  to  "the  feast  of  asses," — so  fa- 
mous in  your  churches,  until  the  light  of  "  the  heretics'  "  religion  drove  this  rehc  of 
prietsly  barbarism,  I  believe,  into  oblivion ; — at  least  I  have  not  heard  of  your  celebra- 
ting it  in  St.  Patrick's,  or  St.  Peter's. 

This  festival  commemorated  the  flight  of  Joseph  and  Mary  into  Egypt;  but  the 
Ass,  on  which  Mary  rode,  is  the  most  conspicuous  personage  in  the  group.  Your 
sacerdotal  ancestors  selected  the  prettiest  young  lady  in  the  town  where  the  festival 
was  held  ;  she  represented  Mary :  she  rode  on  an  Ass  in  splendid  attire ;  and  superb 
asinine  trappings.  She  rode  the  Ass  into  the  church,  and  up  to  the  altar ;  high  mass 
was  then  begun :  the  Ass,  as  he  was  taught  by  his  devout  compeers,  and  fellow  wor- 
shippers, kneeled  down  at  the  altar.  After  mass,  an  ode  was  sung  by  the  priests  in  full 
chorus  TO  the  ass  ! !  I  shall  present  a  specimen  of  the  original,  in  Latin  and  French, 
and  then  add  four  stanzas  of  "  the  sacred  ode"  in  the  Miltonian  style,  in  English : — 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 


141 


Orientis  partibus, 
Adventavii  asinus, 
Pulcher  et  fortissirnus, 
Sarcinis  aptissimus, 

CHORUS. 

Hez  !  Sire  Asnes,  car  chantez, 
Belle  bouche  rechignez, 
Vous  aurez  du  foin  assez, 
Et  de  V  avoine  a  phantez. 
Lentus  erat  pedibu!^, 
Nisi  foret  baculus 
Et  eum  in  clunibus 
Puno^eret  aculeus. 


CHORUS. 

Hez  !  Sire  Asnes,  car  chantez,  &c. 
Ecce  magnis  auribus, 
Subjugalis  filius 
Asinus  egregius 
Asinorum  dominus. 

CHORUS. 

Hez!    Sire  Asnes,  car  chantez,  &c. 

Saltu  vincit  hinnulos, 

Damas  et  capriolos, 

Super  dromedarios, 

Velox  Medianeos. 
Hez  !  Sire  Asnes,  car  chantez,  &,c. 


THE  TRANSLATION. 

"  The  Ass  did  come  from  Eastern  climes  ! 

Heigh-ho  !  my  Assy ! 
He's  fair  and  fit  for  the  pack  at  all  times  ! 
Sing,  father  Ass  !  and  you  shall  have  grass, 
And  hay,  and  straw  too  iu  plenty ! 

-'  The  Ass  is  slow  and  lazy  too  ; 

Heigh-ho,  my  Assy, 
But  the  whip  and  spur  will  make  him  go, 
Sing,  father  Ass,  and  you  shall  get  grass, 
And  straw,  and  hay  too,  in  plenty. 

"  The  Ass  was  born  and  bred  with  long  ears ; 

Heigh-ho,  my  Assy, 
And  now  the  Lord  of  Asses  appears, 
Grin,  father  Ass,  and  you  shall  get  grass, 
And  straw,  and  hay  too,  in  plenty, 

"  The  Ass  excells  the  hind  at  a  leap. 

Heigh-ho,  my  Assy, 
And  faster  than  hound  or  hare  can  trot. 
Bray,  father  Ass,  and  you  shall  have  grass, 
And  straw,  and  hay  too,  in  plenty." 

Here  are  beauty,  elegance,  taste,  aud  devotion  combined.  I  have  only  to  add  that 
the  Jinale  was  exquisite.  The  service  was  always  closed  with  a  braying  match  be- 
tween the  holy  and  venerable  priests  in  full  uniform,  around  the  altar,  and  the  laity, 
in  honor  of  the  ass.  The  stubborn  animal  would  not  regularly  unite  in  their  rational 
sen^ice,  therefore  they  condescended  to  his  estate.  The  priests  appropriately  "  repre- 
senting the  ass,"  brayed  in  a  fine  treble  voice,  three  times.  This  was  replied  to  by 
the  devout  crowd,  who,  in  full  chorus,  brayed  three  times.  Then  the  solemn  and  as- 
tonished ass,  with  his  devout  cortege  was  led  away  home  to  his  hay  and  straw. 

No  lover  of  antiquity,  nor  modern  traveller  has  yet  discovered  a  parallel  to  this 
exquisite  piece  of  Roman  devotion  ! 

It  is  probable,  gentlemen,  that  you  may  deny  the  honor  of  this  festival,  as  you  have 
my  other  quotations,  with  your  books  lying  open  before  the  public.  But  you  are  per- 
fectly aware  that  this  asinine  festival  is  as  real  and  genuine,  as  is  your  mass ! 

I  refer  you  to  Du  CLmge  Gloss.  Paris  Edit,  of  1733:  vol.  iU-  426.     Velly's  Hist. 


142  ROMAN  CATHOLIC    C0NTR0VER3T. 

Du  France.  Paris  Edit,  of  1561 ;  vol  iii.  537.     And  Edgar's  Variations  of  poper^r 
Dublin  Edit.  p.  46.     See  also  Recreat.  Magaz.  Lond.  and  Bost.  Edit.  p.  180. 

Lastly : — The  Roman  catholic  system  has  been  sustained  by  Imposture  and  Frauds. 
Here  I  have  materials  for  volumes.  I  can  give  only  a  specimen  of  gleanings  from 
your  Roman  catholic  works.  In  former  ages  of  your  dark  system,  you  studiously 
kept  the  people  in  profound  ignorance  :  and  thus  you  carried  on  the  imposture 
with  every  facility.  Hence  your  sweating  images:  your  weeping  images, — tears  ran 
down  from  their  eyes  in  floods !  Hence  your  images  which  rolled  the  eyes  and 
shook  the  head !  At  the  Reformation  when  sad  havoc  was  made  with  these  miracle 
makers,  several  rare  specimens  were  publicly  exhibited.  Instead  of  brains,  these 
Romish  idols  had  springs  and  complicated  machinery  to  give  motion  to  the  eyes  and 
to  the  head,  and  excite  the  piety  of  "  the  simple  faithful." 

In  lands  purely  catholic,  the  people,  when  paying  for  their  masses,  wish,  very 
naturally,  to  know  if  the  soul  has  received  benefit,  and  is  delivered; — although  father 
Varela  has  let  out  a  dangerous  secret,  namely,  "  that  their  church  teaches  that  no  one 
of  their  priests  knows  what  soul  is  in  purgatory."  Well,  the  priest  tells  "the  simple 
faitliful,"  that  as  long  as  the  soul  is  not  dehvered, — by  looking  into  a  httle  door  in  the 
Sacrario,  or  tabernacle,  they  can  see  it,— that  is  to  say,  the  departed  soul,  in  the  farm 
of  a  mouse  !  When  it  is  set  free  from  the  purgatorial  pains :  that  is,  when  all  the  money 
that  can  be  exacted  for  masses,  is  obtained,  then  the  mouse  disappears !  See  Master 
Key,  vol,  i.  p.  168,  170.  Contemptible  as  this  may  seem  to  men  of  taste,  yet  it  is 
%-vhat  I  should  call  one  of  the  fraternity's  more  respectable  impostures,  in  "  the  mystery 
oif  iniquity." 

It  is  a  matter  perfectly  evident  from  the  records  of  your  Breviary, — and  Butler's 
Lives,  and  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  that  your  whole  system  has  been  carried  on  in  the 
cells  of  monks  and  nuns,  by  one  continuous  tissue  of  visions,  revelations,  and  mira- 
cles. The  "  Religious,"  as  they  all  misname  themselves,  spend  their  time  in  manu- 
facturing this  godly  sort  of  ware,  for  the  common  benefit  of  Holy  Mother,  and  ♦'  the 
simple  faithful."  Miracles  are  recorded  on  the  pages  of  Butler's  lives,  (3  vols.  Dub- 
lin Edit.)  "as  plenty  as  blackberries."  Saints  walk  like  St.  Dennis,  without  their 
heads.  Devils  are  discomfited  by  legions.  The  dead  are  raised.  The  wafer  is  not 
only  converted  into  Christ's  flesh — ^but  is  often  seen  transformed  into  a  little  babe.  I 
invite  my  Roman  catholic  and  Protestant  friends  to  examine  Butler's  Lives,  the  most 
accessible  of  books.  I  offer  it  for  their  inspection  :  and  the  Dublin  copy  of  the  Car- 
melite scapular.     See  also  the  book  called  "  The  Frauds  of  the  Monks." 

Again : — Your  characteristic  talent  at  cursing  and  excommunicating,  in  pontifical 
form,  with  all  its  dire  effects,  has  not  been  confined,  in  its  game,  to  men  and  women  ! 
For  the  common  benefit  of  the  faithful,  it  has  been  successfully  fulminated  against 
four  legged  beasts,  and  creeping  things.  That  is  to  say,  your  pontifical  wrath  has 
been  expended  not  against  heretics  only ;  but  against  vermine  !  What  a  valuable 
thing  a  priest  is  !  Whenever  rats,  locusts,  mice,  have  overrun  fields,  the  priest  in  his 
consecrated  robes,  with  the  grace  of  intejttion,  to  render  the  rite  all  efficient,  walks 
over  the  fields,  and  sprinkles  them,  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  ^vith  holy  water :  and  so- 
lemnly curses  and  excommunicates  these  vermine.  In  Provence,  in  France,  the 
locust  were  thus  cursed  sacerdotally ;  but,  as  my  author  states,  they  heeded  not  the 
holy  man,  or  Holy  Mother's  fulmination.  The  pope  was  informed  of  their  heretical 
obstinacy!  His  holiness  being  infallible,  gave  a  salutary  advice  to  the  faithful. 
He  ordered   the  obstinate  locust  to  be  again  solemnly  cursed^n  November.     It  was 


ROMAjy    CATHOLIC     CONTROVERSr.  143 

.punctually  done.     And  lo  !  all  of  them  perished  in  one  night, — by  the  frost !  See  the 
account  of  this  in  llurd's  Hist.  p.  229. 

The  famous  Jesuit  Toussain  Bridoul,  and  after  liim,  the  well  known  writer  Gavio, 
in  his  "  Master  Key  ofPoperjs"  gives  numerous  instances  of  beasts,  birds,  and  bees, 
pausmg  miraculously,  in  their  gambols,  and  graver  pursuits,  "to  bow  to,  and  adore 
the  Holy  Mass !  "  Petrus  Cluniac,  Lib.  1.  cap.  1. — with  whom,  of  course,  you,  gen- 
tlemen, are  well  acquainted, — gives  us  some  edifying  instances  of  bees  adoring,  and 
even  dying  before  the  Mass!  One  instance  is  this: — The  wafer  being  conveyed, 
some  how  or  other  into  the  hive, — the  bees  were  found  dead, — and  in  the  midst  of 
them,  the  wafer  had  become  an  infant  Christ!!!  I  am  gravely  quoting  from  your 
own  approved  author  ; — and  you  know  it,  if  you  know  any  thing  of  3'our  own  minute 
history!  And  Cantiprat,  Lib.  3.  Sec.  1.  cap.  40,  relates  that  a  hive  of  bees  being 
heard  to  hymn  most  harmoniously, — on  inspection,  the  consecrated  wafer  of  the  mass 
was  found  among  them,  while  they  were  devoutly  humming  its  glory !  Now  this 
may  seem  incredible  to  many!  But  1  have  only  to  say  that  I  copy  it  out  of  the 
Roman  books.  And  for  my  part,  I  am  not  surprised  that  bees  should  adore  the  mass ! 
To  me  it  is  far  more  miraculous  that  a  two  legged  animal, — a  man,  with  a  rational  and 
immortal  spirit  should  sing  its  glory  !  To  me  it  is  far  more  miraculous  that  rational 
beings  should  be  able  to  believe  that  a  priest  can  create  his  Creator  out  of  a  little  wafer, 
—and  then — eat  up  his  Creator !  This  is  matched  only  by  the  every  day  prayers  of 
our  Eutychian  heretics,  the  priests,  who  make  JVIary  "the  mother  of  God!"  And 
St.  Anna  "the  grand-mother  of  Almighty  God! !"  If  there  be  impostures  equal  to 
this  in  any  part  of  God's  dominions,  I  should  be  glad  to  be  made  acquainted  with 
them.  What  is  the  reason  why  I  cannot  get  any  one  of  you,  gentlemen,  to  come  out, 
and  touch  this  part  of  my  argument  ?  The  reason  is  obvious ;  you  know  that  what 
I  speak  is  nothing  but  truth  :  and  you  dare  not — and  j'^ou  cannot  defend  these  dis- 
gusting— ^but  publicly  avowed  and  believed  catholic  absurdities ! ! 

Yon  are,  of  course,  gentlemen,  well  acquainted  with  the  annual  miracle  of  St. 
Januarius  at  Naples.  The  blood  of  this  saint  is  kept  in  a  bottle  ;  it  is  usually  a  crust ; 
but  on  his  day,  at  the  invocation  of  the  faithful,  it  becomes  something  different  in 
the  bottle ; — the  token  of  his  presence  and  protection.  By  the  way,  he  is,  you  know, 
the  guardian  against  the  eruptions  of  Mount  Vesuvius.  Well,  on  a  certain  day,  after 
innumerable  ceremonies,  of  which  all  pagans  of  all  heathen  lands,  are  innocent, — 
this  saint's  blood, — if  he  condescends  to  be  propitious,  becomes  a  bubbling  red  hquid  in 
the  priest's  hand.  Dr.  Moore,  the  father  of  General  Sir  John  Moore,  and  the  tutor 
of  the  late  Duke  of  Hamilton — in  his  "Tour,"  gives  a  true  and  full  account  of  this 
annual  ceremony,  from  ocular  inspection.  Sometimes  the  holy  saint  is  rather  obsti- 
nate :  he  will  not  soften  and  dilute  his  own  blood,  while  it  is  daylight.  Towards  the 
evening,  the  mob  becomes  very  obstreperous  ;  and  chide  the  saint  in  no  set  phrase ; 
"You  sooty,  yellow  faced  old  fellow!  why  will  you  not  yield,  and  melt  at  the  pious 
invocation  of  our  priests  ?"  These  words  Dr.  Moore  heard  uttered.  TVhen  it  begins  to 
be  conveniently  dark,  the  blood  in  the  bottle  becomes  liquid, — the  priest  proclaims  it : — 
then  is  the  boisterous  cry  of  praise  heard,  in  favor  of  "the  beautiful,  and  fair  St. 
Januarias."  So  much  for  the  saint  who  takes  care  of  Naples;  and  has  the  charge  of 
Mount  Vesuvius.  It  is  a  pretty,  and  profitable  imposture  withal.  For  money  flows 
in  plentifully,  when  the  saint  yields — that  is,  melts  his  crusted  blood  in  the  priest's 
bottle, — and  the  priest's  coffers  overflow  with  silver. 

I  shall  present  you  another  instance  of  imposture.     About  seventeen  years  ago, 


144  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

says  an  eminent  writer  in  1820,  a  lady  now  living  in  Edinburgh,  was  on  a  visit  to  her 
Dublin  relatives.  Through,  the  influence  of  a  Scotch  gentleman,  she  was  introduced 
to  a  popish  chapel,  on  an  occasion  when  a  number  of  souls  was  to  be  translated  out  of 
purgatory.  The  chapel  was  brilliantly  lighted.  The  priest  who  sat  in  a  lofty  place 
with  a  table  before  him,  took  care  that  there  should  be  no  exhibition  until  he  was 
paid.  Several  of  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  persons,  whose  souls  were  to  be  released, 
rose  up,  and  passing  before  the  priest,  each  laid  down  a  well  filled  purse  on  the  table. 
The  money  being  stowed  away  with  a  nod  of  satisfaction,  he  stated  to  the  audience, 
now  on  the  tip-toe  of  expectation,  that  the  souls  were  actually  translated,  and  in  evi- 
dence of  this,  they  would  soon  make  their  appearance.  Instantly  a  moveable  part  of 
the  floor,  a  kind  of  trap-door,  communicating,  as  it  were,  with  the  infernal  regions  of 
purgatory,  slowly  opened,  and  there  appeared  black,  burned,  brandered,  and  seared, 
little  creatures,  crawling  heavily  and  awkwardly  out  over  the  slanting  board.  As  they 
began  to  move  about,  amid  shouts  of  a  miracle,  a  miracle,  the  lights  were,  in  order  to 
prevent  detection,  extinguished  as  if  by  magic !  The  lady  who  had  eyed  these  suffer- 
ing representatives  of  troubled  souls,  being  within  reach  of  one  of  them,  slyly  picked 
it  up  in  the  dark,  and  conveyed  it  to  her  pocket, — for  ladies  wore  pockets  in  those 
days,— and  carried  it  home  :  and  pulling  it  out,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  all,  it  turn- 
ed out  to  be  A  CRAB,  in  a  newly  fitted  on  dress  of  black  velvet !  This  was  communi- 
cated by  an  eminent  clergyman,  who  had  it  from  the  lips  of  the  lady's  daughter,  who 
carried  off'  the  emancipated  spirit!     See  McGavin's  Glasgow  Prot.  ch.  78. 

I  cannot  resist  telling  another,  which  I  had  from  my  friend  the  Rev.  W.  Wilson, 
residing  near  Pittsburg,  Pa.  He  had  it  from  an  eminent  counsellor,  who  was  an  eye- 
witness of  the  scene.  In  their  neighborhood,  in  Ireland,  the  heretics  had  been  mak- 
m<T  dangerous  inroads.  To  check  this  evil,  a  miracle  was  proclaimed;  and  it  was  to 
be  no  less  than  the  casting  the  devil  out  of  a  maniac  !  A  stage  was  erected  in  a 
field,  near  a  morass ;  there  sat  the  bishop  and  his  priests  in  their  robes.  Onr  coun- 
sellor being  a  Roman  catholic,  was  admitted  on  the  stage.  The  maniac  wajs  brought 
up,  in  heavy  chains,  foaming,  and  screaming,  and  gnashing  his  teeth.  The  form  of 
exorcism  was  duly  gone  through :  all  was  in  painful  suspense :  the  priest  officiating, 
then,  raising  his  arms,  the  right  one  over  the  head  of  the  maniac,  he  cried  "  Co-me  out 
of  him  thou  devil!"  That  moment  a  black  bird,  like  a  raven,  issued  from  the  man- 
iac's head ;  the  chains  fell  off'  as  by  a  charm,  and  the  maniac  leaped  up  full  of  joy, 
and  perfectly  restored.  The  roar  of  a  miracle,  a  miracle,  shouted  by  the  crowd  as 
their  eyes  followed  the  black  devil  flying  away  into  the  morass,  was  deafening. — 
"  But," — said  the  sly  counsellor,  "  I  saw  with  my  own  eyes,  the  crow  come  out  of  the 
jrriesVs  wide  sleeve  :  and  every  one  could  see  that  the  chains  were  so  contrived  that,  by 
touching  a  spring,  they  could  fall  off"  instantly."  The  knave,  in  a  word,  acted  the 
maniac  well ;  and  was  M-ell  paid  for  his  pains  by  the  priests. 

I  shall  conclude  with  the  imposture  of  St.  Peter's  chair.  "At  the  extremity  of  the 
great  nave  of  St.  Peter's,  Rome,  and  behind  the  altar,  stands, — or  rather  once  stood — a 
sort  of  throne,"  says  a  late  traveller.  "This  throne  enshrines  the  real,  plain,  worm- 
eaten  wooden  chair,  in  which  St.  Peter  commonly  sat,  when  he  was  pope."  When 
the  French  under  Napoleon  visited  Rome,  not  being  much  disposed  towards  the  faith 
of  the  simple  faithful,  they  seized  this  holy  relic.  Upon  a  close  examination  of  its 
decorations,  certain  letters  and  figures  were  traced.  It  was  carefully  washed  fi-om  its 
cobwebs  and  dust ;  and  the  sentence  copied  from  the  back  of  "  St.  Peter's  identical 
chair."     It  was  in  Arabic  character.     Alas,  for  Saint  Peter's  pontifical'chair.     Alas, 


ROMA^  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  145 

for  the  pope's  infallible  succession  in  this  chair.  The  sentence  was  translated,  papists 
unfortunately  for  infallibility, — are  no  scholars  in  the  Oriental  languages. — Here  is  the 
translation, — ''There  is  one  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  Prophet!."''  It  had  been  a 
sad  mistake.  Instead  of  Peter's  stool  from  the  older  churches ;  or  his  seat  at  Antioch. 
the  ignorant  Romanists  had  plundered  a  Mohammedan  priest  of  his  chair,  and  thus 
robbed  the  mosque  to  decorate  Saint  Peter's  at  Rome.  Thus,  the  pope  had  been  sit- 
ting from  time  immemorial,  not  in  St.  Peter's  chair,  but  in  a  Mufti's  chair.  And 
hence,  as  they  count  their  succession  by  "  a  chair,"  the  pope  has  upset  his  infallibility, 
and  derives  his  legitimate  succession  from  Mohammed. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  yours  truly,  &c. 

^V.  C.  B. 


On  the  same  day  in  which  the  above  Letter  appeared,  the  following  Notice  was 
issued  in  the  same  Roman  catholic  paper,  which  contained  my  Letter  XL,  July  1-3, 
18:33. 

TO    DOCTOR    BROWNLEE,    A    PREACHER    IN    THE    MIDDLE    DUTCH    CHURCH. 

Dear  Sir — We  must  again  iterate  the  question  proposed  to  you  in  the  "  Truth 
Teller"  of  last  Saturday. 

A  proposition  was  proposed  to  Preacher  Brownlee  in  our  last  letter, — "What  articles 
of  faith,  found  in  the  scripture  in  express  terms,  must  be  believed  in  order  to  be 
saved?"  We  expect  a  direct  answer  from  Preacher  Brownlee.  No  subterfuge.  The 
continuation  of  our  controversy  with  him,  'personally,  will  depend  on  his  answer. 

John  Power, 

July  5th,  1833.  Thos.  C.  Levins. 


TO    DOCTORS    POWER,    AND    LEVINS. 


Gentlemen  : — You  have  honored  me  \vith  a  Card,  containing  a  fresh  challenge  : 


and  in  last  Saturday's  paper,  you  reiterate  it.  You  could  not  but  be  aware  when  you 
wrote  these  cards,  that  your  editor  had  no  less  than  two  letters  on  hand,  from  me  : 
namely,  one  to  Dr.  Varela;  and  one  to  you,  in  the  regular  order  of  discussion.  Had 
I  been  two  letters  or  Cven  one  in  arreai-s,  you  might  have  had  some  plausible  reason 
for  this  zeal  and  impatience.  As  it  is, — I  leave  the  pubhc  to  judge  with  what  kind  of 
grace  you  make  this  new  and  bullying  challenge.  Your  editor  keeps  up  my  letters, 
and  ludicrously  enough  offers  his  columns  to  you  to  reiterate  fresh  calls  on  me  to  come 
out!     And  yet,  he  gave  me  his  assurance  that  he  would  deal  fairly. 

Your  new  challenge  is  contained  in  this  ungrammatical  and  blundering  card.  *•  A 
proposition  is  proposed  to  Preacher  Brownlee  ;  What  articles  of  faith  found  in  the 
scriptures  in  express  terms  must  be  believed  in  order  to  be  saved?  The  continuation 
of  our  controversy  with  him  personally  Avill  depend  on  his  answer!" 

One  aim  you  have  ever  kept  in  view  from  the  first,  in  all  this  discussion ; — it  is 
this, — to  prevent  me,  by  all  possible  means,  from  exhibiting  in  their  native  deformity, 
the  dogmas,  and  rites  of  your  church.  For  this  purpose  you  adhered  to  "■the  rule," 
and  would  hear  of  nothing  but  "  the  rule  ;"  even  after  its  evidence  was  full,  explicit, 
and  complete  :  and  after  you  had  exhausted  even  the  last  of  your  borrowed  ideas ;  and 
spent  the  last  expletive  of  ferocious  vituperation.     It  is  true,  you  thought  you  had 

14 


146  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

caught  rae  in  your  trap,  when  I  changed  my  purpose,  and  agreed  to  discuss  the  Rule. 
But,  you  were  not  aware  until  it  was  too  late,  that  I  had  laid  a  trap  for  you.  You  wer« 
not  aware  that  we  were,  all  the  while,  drawing  you  out :  and  setting  you  before  the 
American  public,  in  all  the  unenviable  character  of  convicted  Deists;  more  vulgar 
than  Paine ;  and  more  blasphemous  than  Voltaire !  I  thus  succeeded  in  a  double 
object, — namely,  the  exposure  of  your  corrupt  church,  and  your  personal  deism  ! 

And,  now,  not  yet  having  found  an  excuse  palpable  enough  to  cover  your  retreat ; 
you  assume  an  inquisitorial  air ;  and  not  only  dictate  to  me  a  subject,  which  will 
draw  me  entirely  away  from  that  which  the  public  expect  and  demand  from  me :  but 
you  take  it  on  you  to  declare,  that  unless  my  answer  shall  be  precisely  according  to 
vour  views,  and  wishes,  you  will  then  retreat,  and  leave  the  ground ! 

But  1  call  on  you  to  keep  strictly  to  the  point  under  discussion.  Upwards  of  twenty- 
Jive  arguments  I  have  had  the  honor  of  presenting  to  your  consideration,  and  that  of 
the  public ;  refuting  your  rule  of  faith ;  and  exposing  the  divisions ;  and  novelty  of 
your  church;  her  superstitions,  fanaticism,  and  impostures!  None  of  these  have 
been  answered.  If  you  do  retreat, — I  here  enter  my  solemn  protest  against  it,  before 
the  public,  that  it  can  be  for  no  other  reason  than  this, — namely,  that  you  cannot  vin- 
dicate your  church  from  one  of  all  these  charges !  If  you  do  retreat,  I  protest  that  it 
shall  be  pronounced  a  public  acknowledgment,  that  popery  is  indefensible  before  the 
enlightened  American  people  ! 

In  reply, — the  articles  of  faith  put  forth  in  express  terms  in  the  scriptures,  and 
necessary  to  be  believed  by  us,  in  order  to  our  salvation,  are  these  : — "Hear  O  Israel, 
the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord." — "  There  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,  the 
Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  these  three  are  one."  "  God  sent  his 
Son  into  the  world  to  save  us."  "Thou  art  the  Son  of  God  ;"  "  I  and  my  father  are 
ONE."  "The  sow  of  man  came  to  seek  and  to  save  them  that  are  lost."  "Jesus  the 
Son, — is  the  true  God,  and  eternal  life."  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the 
Word  was  God."  "Jesus  proceeded  forth  and  came  from  God."  The  Holy  Ghost 
is  God  ;  "Why  hath  Satan  filled  thine  heart  to  lie  unto  the  Holy  Ghost?  Thou  hast 
not  lied  unto  men,  but  unto  God!"  "The  S])irit  proceedeth  from  the  Father:"  "and 
He  is  also  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ."     Gal.  iv.  6. 

"  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  He  that  believeth 
and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved  :  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  "  Shew  ye 
forth  the  Lord's  death,  until  he  comei  "  Do  this,  (celebrate  the  eucharist,)  in  remem- 
brance of  me."  "  This  is  life  eternal  to  know  thee  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent."  "If  thou  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart,  and  confess  with 
thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  thou  shalt  be  saved."  "  Except  a  man  be  born  of  the 
water,  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  "Except 
ye  repent  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."  "  Walking  in  all  the  commandments  and 
ordinances  of  the  Lord  blameless," — "thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart  and  with  all  thy  strength,  and  thy  neighbor,  as  thyself."  "  We  are  justified  by 
the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  not  by  the  works  of  the  law."  *'By  the  works  of  the 
law  shall  no  flesh  living  be  justified ;"  that  is,  before  God,  our  Heavenly  Father. 
"By  works,"  the  fruits  of  holiness  "is  a  man  justified,  and  not  by  faith  only,"  sayg 
St.  James  : — that  is,  before  men,  we  give  evidence  of  justification  by  our  piety  and 
holiness.  By  faith  in  "Christ's  imputed  righteousness  alone  without  works,  are  wo 
justified  at  the  bar  of  God,  in  our  justification  before  God.  Thus  Paul  and  James  ar« 
reconciled,  and  plainly  too,  even  to  an  infant  scholar ! 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  147 

Here  is  a  specimen  of  the  articles  in  express  terms  of  scripture.  I  omit,  for  want 
of  room,  those  about  Christ  the  only  king  and  head  of  the  church:  about  ''the  Man  of 
Sin:''  and  about  "  the  mark  of  the  beast  on  the  forehead,  and  in  the  hands,''  which  will 
doom  a  man  to  perdition.  Now,  if  we  believe  these  in  the  lieart  by  the  true  faith  of 
God,  the  Holy  Spirit's  operation,  and  "if  we  confess  them  with  the  mouth  we  shall 
be  saved."  And  I  give  them  in  the  express  words  of  God,  in  his  scriptures.  And  who 
will  venture  to  gainsay  the  express  words  of  God  ?  Which  of  you  dare  impugn  tha 
counsels,  decrees,  and  doctrines  of  the  Almighty  ? 

And  now,  having,  I  hope,  fully  met  your  challenge,  I  demand  it,  as  my  right,  to  go 
on  with  the  main  point  in  hand,  namely,  the  exposure  of  the  old  "  Harlot,  Mother  of 
Babylon/'  And,  in  courtesy,  you  will  allow  me  in  my  turn,  to  challenge  you  to  fol- 
low me,  and  my  arguments.     By  the  grace  of  God  I  shall  not  retreat. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  yours,  Sic. 

July 20, 1833.  W.  C.  Brownlee. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PRIESTS'  LETTER  XI. 

It  opens  with  a  grave  discussion  on  "the  gentleman"  and  "the  writer.''  They  admit  Dr. 
B.  to  be  "  a  writer,"  but  very  strongly  deny  that  he  is  "  a  gentleman."     And  they  call  him 

"  A  LIAR  !" 

"From your  gasconade  '  challenge^  to  the  catholic  bishop  and  priests  of  New  York,  to  the 
last  paragraphs,  the  'purgatorial  crabs'  and  the  'Mufti's  chair,'  in  your  letter  No.  XI  ,  there 
are  not  ten  consecutive  lines  in  your  eleven  letters,  that  do  contain  either  a  deliberate  false- 
hood, ov  di  proof  less  assertion.  This  will  be  amply  proved  ere  the  present  controversy  be 
closed." 

"  When  wilful  falsehood  is  used  by  a  preacher  in  the  most  sacred  cause  that  can  be  un-. 
dertaken  by  man — Religion :  when  it  is  used  to  subvert  the  creed  of  his  neighbor,  and  uphold 
his  own,  then  the  strict  and  honest  appellation  for  this  preacher,  though  he  may  be  a  Ches- 
terfield among  'virtuous  ladies,' — a  liar  ;  no  other  word  can  designate  the  real  character  of 
the  man!" 

Note  : — It  is  much  easier  to  employ  this  characteristic  vulgarity,  than  to  prove  one  of  ouf 
arguments  a  failure,  or  one  of  our  quotations  from  Romish  books  false. 

The  following  exhibits  a  specimen  of  the  ludicrous,  with  a  little  spice  of  Jesuitical  rancor 
and  the  repetition  of  their  everlasting  ''Tillitudlum,''  Having  mentioned  my  twenty-five  argu- 
ments, they  add, — "  but  there  are  two  of  those  '  twenty-five  arguments'  to  which  the  'chris- 
tian public' should  especially  attend,  ag  frw^/ts  of  a  more  eminent  order.  The  first  is  your 
gross,  unchristian,  and  false  charge  against  the  poor  catholic  servants  of  this  city  ; — the  other, 
your  sanction  of  the  obscene  tale,  Lorette.  But  our  catholic  rule  rests  as  solid  in  its  eternal 
strength,  and  the  walls  of  St.  Patrick's  cathedral  arc  as  free  from  fissure  as  if  they  had  not 
been  pelted  by  the  preacher's  '  parallel  passages'  from  his  '  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.' " 

Note  : — I  brought  no  false  charges  against  "catholic  servants."  I  stated  facts  which  can 
be  established  in  a  court  of  justice.  It  was  protestant  compassion  that  prevented  my  friend 
from  sending  the  Roman  catholic  culprit,  to  Bridewell.  And  I  stated  it  as  a  native  result  of 
the  infamous  priestcraft  that  whispers  the  atrocious  doctrine  of  "  legal  theft,"  at  the  con- 
fessional. I  call  the  attention,  once  more,  of  priests  and  laymen  to  L.  Molina,  vol.  ii.  1150, 
and  the  extracts  from  the  Jesuit  Cardenas  : — "  Servants  may  steal  secretly  from  their  masters,  as 
much  as  they  judge  their  labor  is  worth,  more  than  the  wages  ichich  they  receive.''  It  would  secure 
the  public  safety,  and  preserve  the  purity  of  morals,  if  the  "  holy  priests,"  who  instil  this 
nimnoral  and  dangerous  doctrine,  into  the  minds  of  "  silly  women,  laden  with  iniquity,"  at 


148  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

the  confessional,  were  they  committed  to  Bridewell,  instead  of  their  less  guilty  victims. — Tcf 
these  charge:^  I  have  thus  presented  facts,  and  unquestionable  extracts  from  their  own 
books. 

I  ought  not  to  omit,  that  it  is  ludicrous  to  enrol  "  this  charge  against  the  poor  servants," 
and  my  "  sanction  of  Lorette"  among  the  twenty  arguments  against  the  priests'  rule ! 

Having  run  over  their  endless  repetitions  against  the  holy  Bible,  our  only  rule  of  faith, 
tliey  arrive  in  their  second  column,  attlieirold  quarters,  thus  : — 

'•  Therefore,  your  rule  of  faith  leads  directly  and  necessarily  to  Deism  and  Infidelity  ! 
Tiius,  Rev.  Preacher  and  erudite  in  the  "  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  th^i  Holy  Ghost,"  is  the 
" hook  in  yournose.^' 

Having  spent  a  quarter  of  a  column  in  defending  their  ungrammatical  and  blundering 
card,  they  notice  the  feast  of  asses,  evidently  no  novelty  to  them :  and  they  invite  Dr.  B.  "  as 
possessing  eminent  qualifications  to  join  in  the  procession  of  the  next  feast  of  asses  around  St. 
Patrick^ s cathct]ral .^^  Butthey  do  not  specify  whether  he  is  ''  to  bray,  in  treble,  with  the  holy 
priests ;  or  in  solemn  bass,  to  bray  with  the  priest-ridden  laity  !" 

There  next  follows  an  expression  of  amazement  at  our  creed,  expressed,  in  substance,  in 
scripture  language,  in  our  card.  Why,  exclaim  they,  the  Arians  believe  as  much!  The 
Nestorians  believe  as  much,  the  Pelagians,  the  Eutycians,  who  confound  Christ's  two  natures 
nto  one,  and  make  a  female  tJie  mother  of  the  Deity, — why  they  all  believe  as  much  !  "  In 
he  name  of  common  sense  can  this  be  your  creed  ?" 

Note.  They  should,  have  added, — and  they  all  professed  to  believe  the  same  Bible, 
therefore  we  should  throw  it  away.  They  all  used  human  clothing  and  human  food ;  there- 
fore, to  be  utterly  at  antipodes  with  them,  and  to  have  no  communion  with  them,  we  ought 
to  reject  both  the  one,  and  the  other! 

They  close  the  Letter  with  anew  demand, — too  simple  to  attain  their  object,  which  they 
never  lose  sight  of,  namely,  to  turn  us  aside  from  our  purpose, — "  What  article  of  catholic 
faith  is  contradicted  by  the  express  texts  of  scripture,  inserted  in  your  new  creed  ?  Let  this  be 
noted  by  your  christian  public." 

Note.  I  reply, — all  the  peculiar  tenets  of  popery,  saint  and  image  worship,  the  new 
mediators,  and  mediatrices,  tJie  mass,  wluch.  takes  the  place  of  our  Lord's  atonement;  holy 
icater,  and  purgatory,  which  take  the  place  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  his  influences ;  confession, 
and  absolution,  in  which  a  wretched  priest  thrusts  himself  into  the  place  of  Hiai,  even  ''  God 
who,  alone,  can  pardon  sins  ;"  the  ghostly  supremacy  of  the  pope,  who  usurps  the  throne  of 
Him  who  "-has  all  power  in  heaven,  and  in  earth  ;^'  infallibility  assumed  by  a  vicious  and  pol- 
luted priesthood, — from  the  pope,  doAvn  to  the  uneducated  priest,  \vho  knows  not  nmmpsimus 
from  sumpsimus,^  in  his  own  Vulgate, — as  it  thrust  itself  into  the  judgment  seat  of  God 
Almighty, — are  all  opposed  to,  and  contradicted  by,  these  texts.  The  sword  of  the  Spirit 
aims  a  decisive  blow  at  the  head,  and  the  heart  of  the  Apocalyptic  Beast  !  And  with  these, 
every  limb,  to  the  remotest  extremity,  must  die  ;  and  die  to  live  no  more  I 


*  A  certain  zealous  Roman  catholic  priest  in  the  days  of  the  immortal  Reformer,  Luther,  was  ab?olute-ly  so 
rude  and  illiterate,  that  he  had,  for  thirty  years,  read  mumpsimus,  for  the  Latin  word  sumpsimus.  When  the 
Reformer  reproved  the  barbarism,  and  offered  to  put  him  right,  he  gave  this  truly  orthodox  answer,  according 
to  the  standard  of  the  unreforraable  court  of  Rome,  and  popery,—"  It  may  be  so  !  But  I  shall  not  give  up  my 
old  MUMPSIMUS,  for  your  new  sumpsimus  !" 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    COrfTROVERST .  149 

LETTER  XII. 

TO    DRS.    POWER,    AND    VARELA,    AND    MR.     LEVINS. 

'•  Sic  et  Babylon  apud  Johannen,  &c.  Thus  also  Babylon  is,  in  our  John,  a  figure  of  tho 
«ity  of  Rome  ;  which  is  great  and  proud  in  empire  ;  and  a  subducr  of  the  saints." 

TertuUan. 

Gentlemen  :" — We  have  shown  that  the  Roman  cathoUc  reUgion  is  not  found  in 
the  Bible ;  that,  in  fact,  the  whole  system  is  irreconcileable  with  the  word  of  God. 
Wc  have  also  finished  our  discussion  on  the  superstition,  fanaticism,  and  impostures  of 
the  Romish  church,  and  clergy.  The  subject  which  now  claims  our  attention  in  the 
natural  order  of  logical  dependence,  is  that  of  the  notes,  or  marks  of  the  Roman  catho- 
lic church. 

It  is  well  known  to  those  who  are  familiar  with  Romish  books,  or  have  intercourse 
with  Roman  catholic  priests^  and  laity,  that  "  Holy  Mother  church"  is  the  main 
object  of  their  faith.  That  sect  h£is  so  completely  apostatized  from  the  truth,  that  it 
seems  actually  to  have  no  idea  of  saving  "  faith  in  God,  and  in  Christ."  Justification 
by  faith  in  Christ,  and  the  renovation  of  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  doctrines 
which  form  no  part  of  their  system.  They  "beheve  in  Holy  Mother  church." 
They  receive,  by  faith,  all  that  she  teaches  :  they  only  aim  at  dying  in  her  bosom ; 
this  is  all  the  justification,  and  all  the  sanctification  they  look  for.  ''The  temple  of 
tjie  Lord!  The  temple  of  the  Lord,  are  these!"  This  is  as  often  and  as  sincerely 
repeated  by  the  Romish  sect,  as  it  ever  was  by  the  Jews  of  antiquity.  They  have,  in 
fact,  publicly  assumed  the  very  ground,  which  the  apostate  Jews  took,  against  our  Lord 
and  his  kingdom.  They  not  only  crucify  him  afresh  in  every  repetition  of  the  Mass ; 
but  they  say  wc  are  the  children  of  "  Holy  Mother  Church ;"  wc  are  of  "  her  who  i.-? 
the  immutable  church :"  we  are  of  her  to  whom  the  Lord  gave  the  promise  that  "  tho 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  her."  This  promise  which  our  Lord  gave  ta 
his  pure,  holy,  and  only  church,  they  insultingly  and  arrogantly  appropriate  to  them- 
selves ;  even  as  did  the  persecuting  and  murderous  Jews.  The  latter  said  "  We  be 
Abraham's  children  !"  and  they  gravely  inferred  that  the  Almighty  was  bound,  in 
virtue  of  that,  to  save  them,  vicious  and  apostate  as  they  were.  The  former,  the  Ro- 
mish sect,  say — "  We  are  of  Holy  Mother  I"  And  let  their  character  be  what  it  may  : 
though  they  are  at  war  with  God's  law,  and  are  rebels  against  all  our  Lord's  offices, 
rejecting  him  as  a  prophet,  by  their  traditions  and  infidel  rule  of  faith  !  rejecting  him 
as  a  priest  in  each  renewed  rebel  act  of  the  mass,  which  they  call  a  sacrifice  for  tho 
(piick  and  the  dead  !  rejecting  him  as  the  only  king  in  Zion,  bj'  the  blasphemous 
supremacy  of  the  pope!  though  they  practice  all  vices,  and  sell  even  publicly,  as  at 
vendue,  the  pardon  of  sins,  past,  present,  and  future ;  yet  because  they  are  of  "Holy 
Mother,"  and  are  in  her  bosom,  they  shall  all  be  saved !  And  no  human  being  out  of 
her  pale,  are,  or  can  be  saved ! 

Hence  we  hear  the  Roman  catholic  priests  and  laity  pronouncing  tlie  solemn  doom 
of  perdition  on  all  men, — themselves  only  excepted,  who  are  the  exclusive  favorifea 
of  heaven.  To  their  partizans  in  iniciuity,  they  say,  as  men  who  have  taken  iho 
keys  of  the  kingdom  out  of  the  hands  of  him  who  alone  can  bear  them  and 
wield  them, — "If  you  die  in  Holy  Mother's"  bosom  at  last,  it  is  no  matter  what 
you  have  been,  or  have  done,  or  what  you  now  are :  you  are  safe  !  We  are  the  onh/ 
church:     and  the  gold   and  silver,   paid   for  "absolution"  and  "extreme   unction," 


150  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

wash  away  sins !  And  as  a  tokeu  of  this,  the  priest,  counterfeiting  as  much  gravity 
as  possible,  wraps  up  his  deluded  votary  in  a  rag  of  old  "  Holy  Mother's"  tattered  gar- 
ment :  then  he  dictates  a  certificate  to  God  the  judge,  that  this  said  rag  of  the  Roman 
"Harlot,"  is  the  very  robe  of  the  Redeemer's  righteousness:  and  all  the  church  dues 
being  paid,  he  must,  of  course,  acquit  him,  at  the  priest's  bidding!  And  why  ?  Be- 
cause God  had  given  an  assurance  to  his  true  church — not  at  all  to  the  Roman  apos- 
tacy, — that  what  she  "  bound  on  earth"  by  way  of  wholesome  discipline,  "  he  should 
bind  in  heaven." 

From  all  this  it  must  be  obvious,  with  what  anxiety  the  Roman  catholic  priests 
endeavor  to  establish  the  truth  of  their  church,  by  certain  marJcs.  The  most  promi- 
nent of  these  are  antiquity,  catholicity,  succession,  unity,  &c.  These  we  are  now  to 
discuss. 

Ji'irst: — ANTIQUITY. — There  are  few  points  by  which  the  public  have  been  more 
imposed  on,  than  by  this  claim  r  "  The  church  of  Rome  is  of  the  ancient  religion."  In 
the  ears  of  the  superficial  and  weak,  this  claim  of  "the  old  religion,"  sounds  as  a 
resistless  charm^.  "  It  is  the  old  religion."  '  And  from  this  they  draw  an  inference 
befitting  men  who  neither  think,  nor  reason.  Instead  of  listening  to  evidence  and  argu- 
ment as  proof  of  the  utter  apostacy  of  Romanism:  and,  thence,  justly  inferring  that 
the  "  age  and  antiquity"  of  a  rotten  carcass  only  make  it  infinitely  more  rotten  ;  they 
profoundly  and  very  logically  conclude  that  the  antiquity  of  corruption  makes  it 
sweet  and  good!  "  It  is  the  old  religion,"  say  they,  without  stopping  to  listen  to 
the  proof  that  "Old  Mother"  has  been  dead  and  buried;  though  pagan-like,  she  has 
been  set  up  in  her  grave  clothes,  to  receive  the  worship  of  her  children.  And  because 
they  deem  her  the  "  old  religion,"  therefore  she  is  the  only  true  religion.  And  the 
name  "  Protestant,"  being  a  new  name — some  two  or  three  hundred  years  old, — there- 
fore the  religion  presented  under  that  new  name,  is  new,  and  a  false  religion.  The 
public  mind  must  be  disabused  on  this  point.  And  for  this  purpose  I  beg  your  atten- 
tion to  a  two-fold  sophism  in  this  universail  cant  of  papists  about  their  antiquity. 

1st.  Antiquity  is  no  evidence  when  taken  alone,  of  the  truth  of  a  theory.  Sin  and 
error  are  as  old  as  Adam.  Does  that  ripen  and  mellow  them  into  God's  truth  I  The 
kingdom  of  Satan  is  considerably  older  than  even  that  of  Rome,  and  the  popery  there- 
of. If  popery  be  true  from  its  antiquity,  much  more  so  is  the  kingdom  of  Satan,  the 
reign  of  the  truth.  The  Ptolemaic  system  of  astronomy,  which  placed  the  earth  in 
the  centre,  and  made  the  sun  and  worlds  move,  as  it  were,  round  a  grain  of  sand,  is 
far  more  ancient  than  the  Copernican  :  and  therefore,  by  Romish  dialectics,  conse- 
crated to  the  defence  of"  Holy  Mother,"  the  former  system  is  true,  and  the  Newtonian 
system  is  false!  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  philosophy  is  new ;  it  is  only  some  hundred 
years  old.  Therefore  the  systems  of  Egypt,  and  the  dark  ages,  are  the  true  philoso- 
phy ;  and  Sir  Isaac  is  an  impostor  like  Luther ;  and  his  system,  like  the  Reformation 
is  falsehood ! 

2.  Another  portion  of  your  sophistry  lies  here:  the  Roman  priests  designed!}'  con- 
found the  name  of  "  Protestants,"  with  the  system  of  religion,  which  they  maintain. 
And,  thence,  in  true  Romish  logic,  they  conclude  that  because  the  name  "  Protest- 
ant,''^ bestowed  on  the  Refonners,  in  consequence  of  their  solemn  Protest  and  appeal 
to  a  general  council,  against  the  decree  of  Charles  V.,  and  the  Diet  of  Spires,  in  A.  D. 
1529, — is  a  new  and  recent'  name,  therefore  their  religion  is  no  older  than  the  name  / 
Now  let  us  try  the  force  of  this  delectable  Romish  logic.  "-Ireland''  is  a  name  of 
modern  date  :  only  some  few  centuries  old.     Before  this,  it  was  called  Hibemia.    But 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  151 

because  the  name  is  a  few  centuries  old,  it  follows  by  the  certainty  of  our  Romish  logic, 
that  the  thing  itself, — even  the  Emerald  Isle  is  a  mere  novelty,  and  had  only  a  recent 
existence!  "Great  Britain"  is  a  new  name;  it  used  to  be  called  "Albion;" — in 
short,  England,  Scotland,  France,  America  itself,  are  all  new  and  modern  names: 
and  as,  by  the  Romish  dialectics,  the  name  and  the  thing  designated  by  it,  are  of 
equal  date  in  duration  ;  therefore,  these  countries  only  began  to  exist  when  they  got 
these  modern  names ! ! 

In  my  letter  VIII.  I  examined  the  maniac  logic  of  the  priests.  We  showed  that 
the  Romish  church  wants  the  essential  marks  of  the  true  church.  I  then  offered  ten 
proofs  in  evidence  of  the  historical  fact,  that  the  Romish  church  and  her  characteristic 
system  are  a  mere  novelty  ;  invented  chiefly  after  the  sixth  century,  by  wicked  men. 
and  despots  ;  and  the  very  master  piece  of  satan  and  priestcraft!  These  we  sustained 
by  appeals  to  historical  documents.  And  if  silence  be  consent,  then  have  the  priests 
given  me  their  unlimited  assent  to  each  and  all  of  these  ten  arguments !  On  this 
mark  of  their  church,  I  need  not  long  insist.  I  shall  only  observe,  in  brief,  that  the 
great  fundamental  tenet  of  Romanism, — namely,  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  or  of 
the  church,  is  a  mere  novelty  in  the  history  of  the  church.  Pope  Zozimus  in  A.  D. 
420  seems  to  have  been  the  first  who  attempted  to  set  up  certain  claims  of  supremacy 
for  the  Roman  See,  over  all  other  churches  in  the  West.  And  this  he  tried  to  esta- 
blish by  an  impudent  forgery  of  some  decrees,  purporting  to  be  the  decrees  of  the 
council  of  Nice  ;  in  which  he  had  caused  it  to  be  written  "  that  it  was  lawful  to  ap- 
peal to  Rome,  from  other  churches."  The  famous  Milevitan  council  in  Africa,  of 
whom  your  own  St.  Augustine  was  a  leading  and  faithful  member,  opposed  and  con- 
demned these  impious  claims  of  the  Pope.  They  even  sent  a  special  embassy  into  the 
East,  to  obtain  from  the  Greek  church  attested  copies  of  the  acts  of  the  council  of  Nice. 

And  by  these  copies  they  publicly  convicted  the  popes  of  Rome,  even  "the  infalli- 
ble" Zozimus  and  his  "  infallible"  successors,  of  falsehood,  fraud,  and  forgery !  I 
shall  give  you  the  words  of  this  council,  which  solemnly  denied  and  repelled  the 
pope's  claims  of  su})remacy,  so  late  as  the  fifth  century  :— "  Quod  si  ab  eis,  &c.  But 
if  they,  (the  clergy)  think  it  necessary  to  appeal  from  them,  they  shall  appeal  only  to 
African  Councils,  or  to  the  primates  of  their  i)rovinces.  If  any  one  shall  appeal  be- 
yond the  seas,  let  him  be  received  into  communion  by  none  in  Africa."  The  signa- 
ture of  St.  Augustine  is  the  fourth  to  this  solemn  decree.  See  Mansi  Council.  Col- 
lect. Tom.  4.  p.  507.  Venet  Edit.  1785.  Finch,  p.  156. 

And  so  late  as  A.  D.  590,  Pope  Gregory  I.  declares  the  apostle  Peter  "  not  to  be 
the  head,  but  only  a  member  of  the  church."  See  Regist.  Lett.  Tom.  2,  p.  743. 
And  again,  "  I  confidently  say  that  whosoever  calls  himself  imiversol  Mshop,  or  de- 
sires to  be  called  so,  is,  in  his  pride,  the  forerunner  of  Antichrist,'"  &lc.  See  Lib.  7. 
Indie.  15.  Epist.  33.  Bedict.  Edit.  Paris,  1705.  In  another  place,  he  atfirms  tliat  the 
"  three  bishoprics  of  Alexandria,  and  Antioch,  and  Rome,"  are  from  the  same  Peter, 
"  which  is  of  one,  but  in  three  places, — quae  in  tribus  locis  unius  est."  Tom.  ii.  p. 
887. 

It  was  not  until  the  days  of  Boniface  III.  A.  D.  60G,  that  the  pope  was  raised  to  the 
supremacy  o£  universal  bisJwp.  And  this  was  done,  not  by  the  will  of  God,  but  by 
the  civil  power  of  the  ferocious  tyrant  Phocas,  who  murdered  the  king  his  master,  and 
by  murder  and  treason,  usurped  the  imperial  throne.  And  even  this  supremacy,  ob- 
tained by  the  most  atrocious  means,  extended  to  the  Western  churches  only.  The 
Eastern,  and  the  Greek  churches  stood  out  against  papal  usurpation,  and  do  resist  yoa- 


152  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

unto  this  day.  Now,  this  supremacy,  partial  and  sectarian  as  it  was,  being  the  device 
of  the  poHtical  Judas,  called  Phocas,  at  the  instigation  of  Western  schismatics,  in  the 
9eventh  century,  where  is  the  boasted  antiquity  of  the  Roman  catholic  sect?  I  venture 
to  say  that  no  well  read  Jesuit  can  refrain  from  laughter,  without  an  unusual  effort, 
even  while  he  is  putting  forth  this  knavish  claim  of  antiquity ! 

The  MASS,  the  grand  arcanum  of  Roman  craftiness,  the  sublime  creature  of  priest- 
craft, which  lays  golden  eggs,  can  boast  of  no  great  antiquity.  This  fiction  w^as,  after 
many  a  struggle,  established  in  the  bosom  of  Holy  Mother,  in  A.  D.  1215;  and  con- 
sequently it  is  now  only  six  hundred  and  nineteen  years  old.  And  I  invite  any  priest, 
well  versed  in  the  history  of  the  church,  to  prove  any  thing  to  the  contrary. 

Auricular  confession,  one  of  the  main  springs  of  ghostly  power ;  the  copious 
source  of  wealth  ;  and  of  all  possible  wickedness,  was  finally  established  by  Pope 
Innocent  III.,   in  the  beginning  of  the   thirteenth  century,  and  is  no  older  than  the 

Mass. 

Purgatory,  notwithstanding  the  golden  harvests  which  it  was  foreseen  to  afford 
"  Holy  Mother,"  is  of  a  quite  recent  date.  It  required  all  the  darkness  of  the  dark 
ages  to  brutalize  sufficiently  the  human  mind,  in  Europe,  for  its  faith  and  reception. 
The  priests  had  long  labored  by  pious  frauds,  and  miracles,  and  visions,  it  is  true,  to 
establish  the  lucrative  fiction.  But  maugi-e  all  their  influence,  it  was  really  not 
elevated  into  a  proud  article  of  faith  among  the  simple  faithful,  until  A.  D.  1430.  This 
was  done  by  the  notorious  council  of  Florence.     It  is,  therefore  only  404  years  old ! 

The  creation  and  invocation  of  saiiits  have  long  been  another  profitable  affair  in 
your  church.  In  order  to  make  the  manufactory  of  this  ware  profitable,  there  must 
be  invocation.  Pope  Clement  XI.  created  four  saints  in  one  day,  namely,  Pius  V; 
Andrew  of  Avelim  ;  Felix  of  Cantalice ;  and  Catharine  of  Bologna,  for  each  of  which 
he  received  100,000  crowns !  Here  the  spiritual  job  brought  him  400,000  crowns,  in 
a  couple  of  hours !  Yet  notwithstanding  the  Romish  efforts  in  behalf  of  this  lucrative 
dogma,  the  invocation  of  saints  was  not  fixed,  as  an  article  of  faith,  until  the  7iinth 
century ! 

But  we  must  cut  short  our  details.  The  use  and  worship  of  images  were  condemn- 
ed so  late  as  A.  D.  700,  by  the  council  of  Constantinople.  In  the  ninth  century,  the 
darkest  hour  of  the  darkest  ages,  they  were  finally  set  up  by  impiety  and  imposture, 
as  objects  of  worship  in  your  church.  Telesphorus  invented  and  brought  in  the  Len- 
ten feasts.  Calixtus  instituted,  by  arbitrary  power,  the  four  ember  fasts  of  the  year. 
Hyginus  exerted  his  genius  in  inventing  the  "sacred  chrism  or  oil."  The  marriage 
of  priests  was  finally  prohibited  by  Pope  Gregory  VII.  near  the  close  of  the  eleventh 
century,  say  A.  D.  1070.  And  the  abstraction  of  the  cup  from  the  eucharist,  or  the 
communion  without  wine,  after  it  had  been  forged,  and  invented  by  impostors ;  and 
opposed  by  Pope  Gelasius,  was  finally  decreed  by  the  council  of  Constance,  which 
met  in  A.  *D.  1414.     And  it  is  therefore,  an  imposition  only  420  years  old  I 

And  it  is  due  to  truth,  to  observe  here,  that  all  these  papal  innovations,  now  alluded 
10,  and  more  fully  narrated  in  my  Letter  VIII.,  were  not  quietly  permitted  to  usurp  the 
throne  of  Christ  our  Lord,  and  displace  his  doctrines.  On  each  one  of  them  there 
was  a  struggle  before  the  arch-deceiver  prevailed.  I  am  prepared  to  produce  from  five 
'  to  seventeen  of  the  best  of  the  fathers  against  each  one  of  these  innovations  of  Rome. 
The  want  of  room  only,  prevents  me  from  quoting  them.  St.  Augustine  with  Jerome, 
who  called  Rome  "  the  great  Babylon,"  and  St.  Ambrose,  take  the  lead.  Every  Ro- 
man priest  has  read  of  the  two  "  thunderbolts  of  war"  against  Romish  impositions,— 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST.  153 

namely,  Bertram,  and  Berringer,  \vho,  in  the  days  of  Gregory  VII.  called  also  by  the 
more  emphatic  anil  appidpriale  name  of  "  Hellbrand,"  impugned  the  idolatrous  fiction 
ot'  the  mass.  Who  has  not  read  the  immortal  Robert  Grosthead,  the  Roman  catholic 
bishop  of  Lincoln,  sirnamcd  the  pounding  Hammer  of  the  Romish  beast?  Who  has 
not  heard  of  Gallus,  and  Petrarch,  and  a  host  of  others  :  and  in  later  times  of  Claude, 
and  Nicholas  Clemangis? 

On  the  contrary,  every  peculiar  doctrine,  and  rite  of  ancient  Christianity,  as  our 
Lord  revealed  it  in  the  holy  scriptures,  have  been  religiously  believed,  and  professed  by 
the  Protestant  church  of  the  Reformation.  Call  us  by  any  name  you  elect :  call  u& 
Protestants ;  or  the  children  of  the  old  Italick  church,  or  Waldenses,  or  Albigenses  ;  or 
Bohemian  brethren ;  or  Lollards;  or  Huguenots;  or  the  associates  of  Luther ;  or  Cal- 
vin; or  Zuingle;  or  Knox.  W^e  hold  up  to  pubHc  view  "  The  syntagmata  Confes- 
sionum,'^  "  the  collection  of  the  Confessions"  of  the  Reformed  Church.  On  every 
doctrine,  and  sacrament  of  the  pure  primitive  and  apostolical  Christianity,  all  the 
"  Reformed  churches,"  are  entirely  at  one.  Not  so  in  Rome  ;  every  essential  doctrine, 
and  the  two  sacraments  are  buried,  and  utterly  lost  in  the  rubbish  of  "  Babylon  the 
Great!" 

And  were  we  even  to  outrage  truth  and  historical  evidence,  by  admitting  the  Romish 
church  to  be  a  true  church  of  Christ,  can  any  man  be  so  stupid  as  not  to  know  thai: 
the  church  at  Jerusalem,  the  Syriac  church,  which  Dr.  Buchanan  found  existing  in 
the  interior  of  India,  are  far  more  ancient  than  that  of  Rome?  Can  any  man 
be  so  ignorant  of  historical  truth  as  not  to  know  that  the  churches  of  Egypt,  particu- 
larly that  of  xllexandria;  and  the  church  of  Antioch,  and  the  whole  Greek  church,  aro 
more  ancient  than  that  of  Rome.  Nay,  every  sensible  man  knows  that  the  old 
Italick  church  was  before  the  church  of  Rome,  as  she  now  is,  being  the  same  in  doc- 
trine and  rites  as  the  "  apostolic  church  at  Rome."  The  arguments,  therefore,  of  the 
Roman  writers  on  this  point,  are  not  only  vicious  sophistry,  but  false  in  fact. 

2d.  Catholicity.— The  term  Catholic,  a  Greek  word,  signifies  general  or  univer- 
sal. And  the  Roman  church  clauns  the  exclusive  use,  and  honor  of  this  title.  They 
are  the  catholic,  the  universal  church. 

When  applied  to  the  church  of  Christ,  "which  he  bought  with  his  own  blood;"  as  it 
is  appropriately  used  in  the  creed,  "  I  believe  in  the  holy  catholic  church,"  the  Protest- 
ants understand  it  thus :— It  takes  in  all  those  who  are,  or  shall  be  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  above.  "The  church,"  says  St.  Jerome,  "does  not  consist  of  walls,  but  of 
true  doctrine.  Wherever  the  true  faith  is,  there  the  church  is."  Oper.  vol.  vii.  p.  388. 
"  The  church  of  Christ,"  says  St.  Augustine,— "is  in  the  saints  :  the  church  of  Christ 
is  in  those  who  are  written  in  heaven:— the  church  of  Christ  is  in  those  who  do  not 
yield  to  the  temptations  of  the  world."  Oper.  Tom.  iv.  Expos,  of  the  47th  Psalm. 
Again,  says  he,  on  the  62  Psalm,—"  Christ's  whole  (catholic)  church,  which  is 
gpread  every  where,  is  his  body,  of  which  he  is  the  Head."  In  the  same  sense  do  all 
Protestants  correctly  use  the  term.  The  church  catholic  includes  all  who  are  now  in 
glory  out  of  our  ransomed  family:  all  tvho  are  noiv  in  Christ  by  faith;  and  all  who 
shall  be  in  him,  the  Head  of  us  all. 

But  the  Romish  sectarians  are  about  as  modest  as  some  of  the  Eastern  prmces, 
who  gravely  claim  dominion  over  sun  and  moon  ;  and  derive  titles  fnmi  these  exten- 
sive and  "catholic"  dominions,  in  the  heavens!  They  are  the  "catholic,"  the 
"universal"  church!  They  have  tw^o  arguments  to  sustain  this  romantic  claim.— 
l«t.  The  apostles  gave  them  the  exclusive  name  of  catholics.     I  shall  quote  their  own 


154  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

words ;  for  it  explains  the  singular  reason  why  neither  in  Rome,  nor  in  New  York, 
the  priests  ever  call  themselves  christians.  "  When  heresies  sprang  up, — the  nam© 
christian  was  too  common  to  sever  the  heretics  from  the  true  faithful  men  :  hence  th« 
apostles  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  imposed  the  name  catholic  on  those  who  are  obedient  to 
the  (Roman)  church's  doctrines."  See  Rhem.  Annot.  on  Acts  xi.  26,  and  1  John  ii. 
2.  and  Bell.  De  Eccles.  iv.  4.  That  is  to  say, — for  this  Romish  mysticism  needs  a 
translation, — the  apostles  who  wrote  the  scriptures  in  Greek,  and  who,  themselves, 
belonged  principally,  and  especially  to  the  Syriac  and  Greek  churches,  without  any 
command  from  heaven,  gave  to  an  obscure  Jewish  assembly  of  christian  converts  at 
Rome,  consisting  probably,  at  that  time,  of  a  few  hundred,  the  title  of  "  The  univer- 
sal  church  of  Christ  /" 

You  may  gravely  ask  where  any  one  can  find  the  command,  if  any  ever  was  giv- 
en ;  or  where  any  statement  is  made  in  civil  history,  authorizing  the  belief,  that  the 
apostles  of  our  Lord,  in  the  midst  of  the  great  and  flourishing  churches  of  the  East, 
such  as  those  of  Syria,  and  Egypt,  and  Greece,  took  it  solemnly  into  their  heads  to 
bestow  the  title  of  "  church  universal  or  catholic,'*'  on  a  few  obscure  christians  in 
Rome !  I  answer  no  one  has  been  yet  bold  enough  to  risk  his  character  in  asserting, 
with  proofs  out  of  ancient  documents,  that  the  apostles  did  so.  The  simple  word  of 
the  interested  "  infallible,"  is  all  that  has  been  pleaded.  But  if  there  be  no  weight  in 
the  estimation  of  all  who  do  not  believe  by  yroxy — there  is  a  second  argument  resort- 
ed to  by  the  romantic  advocates  of  popery.  "They  are  the  catholic  or  universai 
church,''  say  they — "because  in  respect  of  time,  place,  and  person,  the  Roman 
church  has  always  been  in  the  world  ;  in  all  countries  in  the  world  :  and  has  flourished 
in  all  nations!"  That  is  to  say— for  this  needs  a  friendly  exposition  :  "  The  Romish 
church  has  always  been  in  the  world," — except  when  the  Jewish  church  existed; — 
which  was  before  the  Romish  church  had  a  being!  "  The  Roman  church  has  always 
been  in  the  world  :"  That  means  for  a  few  centuries  !  "  The  Roman  church  haa 
been  in  all  countries,  in  all  the  world,"  That  is,  except  in  Asia,  and  Africa,  and  the 
greater  part  of  America,  and  some  of  the  most  extensive  empires  of  Europe.  *'  The 
Roman  church  has  flourished  in  all  nations.  Except  England,  Scotland,  Holland, 
Ireland,  Denmark,  Russia,  Prussia,  all  Asia,  all  Africa.  "  The  Roman  church  takes 
in  all  people."  Yes,  except  about  eight  hundred  millions  out  o(nine  hundred  millions 
of  the  human  family.  "The  Romish  church  will  always  be  in  the  world,"  except 
from  the  close  of  the  1260  years,  and  the  whole  period  of  millenium,  when  she  will 
be  annihilated  by  a  catholic  overthrow. 

Such  are  the  ludicrous  and  maniac  claims  of  this  sect  of  schismatics,  to  catholicity, 
or  universality  !  The  person  who  does  not  see  the  absurdity  of  this,  most  assuredly 
merits  our  pity  and  compassion.  The  claim  of  "  catholicity"  in  fact,  sets  all  sober 
reason  utterly  at  defiance.  The  ])ope,  prelate,  or  priest,  who  soberly  claims  the  title 
of  "catholic"  for  his  sect,  must  either  be  forsaken  of  reason  and  common  sense,  and 
thence  be  a  maniac :  or  which  v.e  believe  to  be  the  truth  of  the  case,  he  acts  the  im- 
postor and  knave.  And,  conscious  of  the  ridiculous  nature  of  his  claims,  like  the  char- 
latan, he  advances  them  with  an  unblushing-  impudence  to  cheat  his  votaries  into 
compliance,  by  his  lofty  and  swelling  words  of  vanity,  merely  to  advance  his  own 
interests,  in  his  pretensions  to  ghostly  and  temporal  power.  "A  Roman  catholic!** 
That  is  to  say,  in  plain  Enghsh,  "  a  particular  general !"  "  A  Roman  catholic."  That 
ia  to  say,— the  little  affair  called  "  Rome,"  is  all  Syria,  all  Greece,  all  Asia,  all 
Europe,  all  America!     "A  Roman  catholic  I"     That  is  to  say,  the  little  comes 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  155 

*nd  nook  of  "jRont€,"  is  catholic, — is  all  the  world,  all  the  universe!  And  the  few 
bigotted  dogmas,  invented  by  the  most  worthless  of  men,  for  the  most  infamou8  of 
ends,  namely  the  extinction  of  religion  and  civil  liberty,  form  the  whole  religion 
of  the  whole  world  ! 

"  Oh  !  judgment,  thou  hast  fled  to  brutish  beasts, 
And  men  have  lost  their  reason." 

The  church  catholic  and  universal  is — we  repeat  it, — a  glorious  assembly.  It 
embraces  all  those  who  are  now  in  heaven ;  or  on  the  earth,  walking  in  the  unity  of 
llie  spirit,  in  the  beauty  of  holiness,  and  the  bond  of  peace  :  or  who  shall  3/ef,  in  duo 
time,  be  united  to  Christ;  and  shall  ere  long,  reach  "the  general  assembly,  and 
church  of  the  first  born."  But  what  man,  in  the  sober  exercise  of  his  reason,  did  ever 
apply  this  title  of  the  "church  universal"  to  a  sect  of  apostates  from  Christ ;  con- 
temptible even  in  point  of  numbers,  compared  with  the  great  mass  of  the  human 
family,  who  composed  the  true  church  of  the  Jews :  and  the  true  church  of  the  New 
Testament,  A  sect,  moreover,  which  has  filled  the  ears  of  all  good  men  with 
direful  rumors !  A  sect  which  has  made  the  very  heavens  re-echo  with  the  horrid 
cries  of  treason,  rebellion,  and  crime  !  A  sect  which  has  drenched  the  earth  with  the 
blood  of  sixty-eight  millions  of  human  btings,  whom  it  has  sacrificed  on  the  altar 
of  its  bloody  and  horrid  superstition. 

It  deserves  to  be  noticed  here  that  various  sectaries,  besides  the  Roman  church, 
have  affected  to  call  themselves  "  catholic ;"  and  to  boast  of  their  numbers.  For 
instance,  the  Donatists  did  so,  in  the  da^^s  of  St.  Augustine.  See  Aug-.  Epist.  48. 
The  Pelagians  also  set  up  claims  to  this  inordinate  title ;  as  appears  from  St.  Jerome, 
Lib.  3.  Advers,  Pelag.  "  Quid  si  te  alius  catholicum  dlxerit,  &c."  "VVliat  if  another 
call  thee  catholic  ?  Shall  I  give  consent?" 

But  it  is  remarkable  that  neither  they,  nor,  as  I  have  just  observed,  the  Roman 
catholics,  have  ever  adopted  the  holy  and  honourable  name  of  Christian!  It  can  be 
shown  from  respectable  authors,  and  it  is  an  extraordinary  fact — that  the  Romish 
priests,  from  time  immemorial,  have  despised  this  venerable  and  divinely  appointed 
name.  "It  is  notoriously  known,  that  in  Italy,  and  at  Rome,  the  most  honourable 
name  of  Christian,  is  actually  a  name  of  reproach;  and  usually  it  is  abused  to  signify 
a  fool,  or  a  dolt!  see  Christ.  Franch.  coll.  Jesuit,  near  the  end  ;  and  Fulk's  Refuta- 
tion of  the  Rhem.  Annotators.  Acts  xi.  26.  And  in  our  day,  if  any  humble  soul 
should  happen  to  stumble  into  Rome,  the  See  and  country  of  the  Antichrist,  and  should 
venture  to  call  himself  a  Christian,  in  what  may  be  termed  the  second  rate  society,  of 
archbishops  and  bishops, — he  would  be  received  with  peals  of  laughter  and  merriment, 
as  some  antideluvean  creature !  But  if  he  avowed  himself,  in  the  simplicity  of  his 
soul,  to  be  a  Christian  in  the  Pope's  presence,  before  his  godly  court  of  cardinals,  he 
might  deem  himself  fortunate  if  he  escaped  a  dungeon,  or  assassination. 

I  cannot  close  without  observing  another  material  evidence  against  your  claims  to 
•'catholicity."  These  claims  are  not  only  illegal,  absurd,  and  contrary  to  historical 
evidence;  but  actually  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  the  sentiments  of  your 
best  fathers.  "  Fear  not  little  flock,"  said  our  Lord  :  "  Many  are  called,  few  are  cho- 
sen." And  St.  Jerome  writing  against  the  claims  to  catholicitjs  set  up  by  the 
Pelagians,  says  in  his  third  book  against  them;  "The  multitude  of  your  fellows  doth 
not,  therefore,  prove  you  a  catholic  ;  but  rather  a  heretic."  See  also  St.  Augustine, 
De  Pastoribus.  And  one  of  the  more  sensible  of  your  Popes,  namely,  Nicholas  L  in 
tiia  Letter  to   the  Emperor  Michael,  says, — "A  small  company  hinders  not,  where 


156  ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

piety  aboundeth :  neither  does  a  great  company  further,  where  impiety  abounds :  glory 
not  for  the  multitude,  for  not  the  multitude,  hut  tlie  cwby.  justijieth,  or  condemneth.''' 

Finally  ; — From  the  sixth  century,  no  one  of  your  advocates  can  estabUsh  any  true 
claim  of  connection,  on  your  part,  as  a  church,  with  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
Eastern  churches  indignantly  cast  off  your  infamous  usurpations,  over  them  :  so  also 
did  the  African  church,  with  your  own  St.  Augustine  at  their  head.  You  have  been 
continually  diverging  from  the  good  old  church  of  God  at  Rome ;  and  the  good  old 
Italick  church,  from  whom  our  pure  and  holy  forefathers,  the  Waldenses  and  Albi- 
^enses  proceeded.  You,  like  Ishmael,  are  against  every  section  of  the  church  of 
Christ :  and  every  church  against  you.  You  are  no  longer  the  pure  river  of  God  wa- 
terino-  the  earth;  but  the  sluggish  and  muddy  ba3'OU,  bursting  forth  from  the  majestic 
and  chrystal  river  of  God ;  and  threading  your  way,  amid  the  putrid  exhalations  and 
swamps  of  a  Dead  Sea ;  sending  forth,  to  an  immeasurable  extent,  moral  pestilence, 
and  death,  over  the  nations. 

On  the  whole,  the  Protestant  faith  is  not  only  the  most  ancient,  but  the  most  true  cath- 
olic faith.  With  the  church  of  God  in  all  ages;  with  them  on  earth;  and  with  them  in 
heaven,  we  are  perfectly  at  one,  on  every  doctrine,  and  on  each  of  the  sacraments, 
which  have  characterized  the  church,  the  chaste  spouse  of  Christ.  We,  therefore  are, 
of  the  true  catholic  church  of  Clirist, — you  are  the  Roman  catholic  church' of  Anti- 
christ. We  move  forward  under  the  pure  white  flag  of  the  Redeemer's  standard ;  the' 
true  cross  of  our  Blessed  Redeemer ;  you  move  on  in  darkness  and  in  blood,  under 
the  standard  of  your  prince,  Abaddon,  "j^our  king,  the  angel  of  the  bottomless  pit." 
But  I  must  nause.  I  am,  gentlemen,  yours,  &c. 

W.  C.  B. 


CARD. 

It  is  necessary  to  remind  my  readers  that  the  priests,  in  their  second  challenge 
chose  to  make  it  a  condition  of  their  continuing  the  controversy,  that  I  should  aban- 
don the  attack  on  their  system,  and  defend  the  Protestant  system.  I  promptly 
declined  obedience  to  this  unreasonable  dictation,  being  determined  to  force  my  way 
into  their  very  citadel,  and  into  the  interior  of  the  "chambers  of  imagery."  They 
declined  publishing  any  reply  to  me,  last  Saturday.  Having  prepared  the 
preceeding  letter,  I  sent  a  card  on  Monday  morning  to  Mr.  Denman,  editor  of  the 
Roman  catholic  print,  requesting  him  to  say  whether  I  was  correct  in  understanding, 
the  information  conveyed  to  me  from  his  office,  through  my  friend  Mr.  T. ;  namely 
that  no  more  was  to  be  published  by  him  on  either  side.  In  reply  to  this  Card,  I 
received  a  letter,  abusive  and  insulting ;  while  the  writer  took  care  to  answer  me 
neither  negatively  nor  affirmatively.  I  replied  by  again  soliciting  a  definite  answer, 
whether  he  would  allow  me  to  go  on  as  usual,  in  his  columns.  I  waited  two  hours 
and  a  half  for  his  reply ;  none  came.  I  then  entered  into  arrangements  to  have  my 
letters  published  simultaneously,  in  the  three  papers  which  have  hitherto  copied  them 
from  the  Roman  catholic  print ;  and,  at  the  time,  sent  a  copy  of  my  letter  XII.  to  the 
office  of  the  Roman  catholic  paper.  And  it  is  proposed,  by  the  grace  of  God  to  follow  . 
up  the  retreat  of  tlie  priests,  by  a  letter  every  second  week,  until  the  end  of  August : 
and  then  by  a  short  letter  weekly,  until  the  victory  shall  be  complete. 

W.  C.  B. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  157 

In  The  Truth  Teller  of  August  3,  appeared  this  Editorial  Notice. 

"  Dr.  Brownlee  has  sent  us  the  following  communication  as  his  answer  to  Drs.  Power 
and  Levins'  Letter  No.  12,  published  in  our  last.  We  consent  as  a  matter  of  courtesy  to  its 
appef.rance — and  also  to  gratify  Dr.  Brownlee  whose  private  communications  to  the  editor 
for  publication,  are  of  the  most  urgent  nature.  In  complying  with  Dr.  Brownlee's  solicit- 
ations we  must  here  state,  that  unless  he  will  confine  himself  to  the  topics  under  discussion 
we  must  close  this  controversy." 

This  ''  communication"  was  nothing  more  than  the  introduction  to  my  Letter  XIL,  which, 
by  ti.  private  message,  I  had  begged  the  editor  of  the  R.  catholic  print,  to  place  at  the  head  of 
the  manuscript  Letter,  which  had  been  some  time  in  his  hands.     It  follows : — 


TO    DRS.    POWER,    AND    VARELA,    AND    MR.     LEVINS. 

Gentlemen : — I  have  carefully  read  your  12th  letter  on  the  27th  of  July.  You  are  heartily 
welcome  back  again  after  your  temporary  retreat.  Stand  to  your  post,  I  exhort  you,  as  good 
Romans ;  we  are  only  beginning  the  tug  of  war.  But  .seriously,  I  thank  you  for  your  letter. 
It  helps  on  my  cause  marvellously.  What  a  miserable  cause  must  yours  be,  when  Bishop 
Dubois's  THREE  sclcct  champions  can  venture  out,  before  an  American  public,  with  such  a 
production  as  this  !  Hence  I  thank  you  for  it ;  it  establishes  with  fresh  evidence,  all  I  have 
advanced  relative  to  your  deism.     The  evidence  is  now  full  and  running  over. 

I  agree  with  you,  also  very  cordially,  in  believing  that  no  small  degree  of  degradation 
attaches  itself  to  the  labor  of  detailing  out  of  your  books,  the  accounts  respecting  "  the  Duke 
of  Brunswick  ;"  "  and  St.  Patrick's  miracle,"  and  "  St.  Dennis  carrying  his  own  head,  after 
he  w^as  beheaded," — "  and  your  Du  Cangis'  account  of  your  feast  of  the  Asses,"  and  the 
true  "  account  of  the  purgatorial  crabs,  with  their  velvet  coats,"  and  "  St*  Peter's  chair 
plundered  from  a  Mufti's  mosque."  I  admit  that  it  is  degrading  in  your  historians  to  detail 
them.  And  one  really  feels  himself  loAvercd  to  be  compelled  to  quote  such  trash !  But  then 
what  must  be  the  infinitude  of  the  degradation  of  the  "infallible  pope,"  and  the  "infallible 
church,"  and  of  the  "  infallible  priests  of  Rome,"  who  have  gravely  recorded  all  this  impo- 
sition, in  their  devotional  books, — ay,  in  their  Breviary ;  and  do  solemnly  command  their 
votaries  to  believe  it  all,  on  pain  of  damnation!  Yes,  hypocrisy  will  affect  to  deny  all 
these  !  You  even  aflfect,  in  matchless  assurance,  to  tieat  them  as  fictions !  This  is  pure 
homage  to  our  enlightened  American  public;  and  an  item  of  that  Jesuitism,  by  which  all 
Roman  priests  arc  sworn  to  conceal  their  real  tenets  and  rites,  from  the  eyes  of  protestants 
and  republicans.  You  and  your  bishop  know  that  if  }  ou  Avere  in  Italy,  or  in  Spain,  and 
ventured  on  the  disbelief  of  these  miracles;  or  even  the  affectation  of  ridiculing  them  be- 
fore enlightened  men : — yes,  if  you  were  heretic  enough,  in  S]iain,  to  smile  at  the  headless 
St.  Dennis  carrying  his  head  under  his  arm;  or  at  the  edifying  talcs  of  other  saints  sailing 
over  the  sea,  on  their  cloaks,  with  their  companions  for  ballast, — you  w  ould  forthwith  be 
the  inmates  of  dungeons ;  and  escape  burning  only  by  a  well  timed  recantation  on  your 
knees ! 

Your  ultra  "  zealotry,"  is  "ambitioning"  too  much,  to  use  your  classic  style,  when  you 
find  fault  with  my  scriptural  creed ;  or  indeed  any  christian  creed.  Tlie  religious  public  can- 
not but  smile  at  three  men,  publicly  convicted  of  open  and  avowed  deism,  aftccting  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  a  christian  creed ! 

In  fine,  as  there  is  not  a  new  idea  in  all  your  letter;  and  as  I  have  proposed  to  myself  to 
go  forward  into  "  Holy  Mother's"  chambers  of  imagery,  even  were  its  entrance  guarded  by 
Cerberus,  witii  its  three  heads.     I  shall  go  on  with  the  regular  discussion. 

This  letter  was  published  in  tiie  Christian  Intelligencer  of  last  Satm-day  :  to  which  we 

refer  the  readers  of  the  Truth  Teller. 

W.  C.  Brownlee." 
15 


IgQ  iROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY, 


A  CARD.— To  THE  Public. 

The  editor  of  the  Roman  catholic  print  called  "the  Truth  Teller,"  has  now  in  his  hands, 
TWO  letters  from  me,  which  he  has  refused  to  publish :  namely,  one  addressed  to  Dr.  Varela, 
designed  to  expose  the  impiety  and  blasphemy  of  the  title  "  the  Mother  of  God,'*  which  the 
Romish  sect  has  invented,  and  long  used  in  its  idolatrous  worship  of  the  Virgin  Mary:  the 
other,  is  my  twelfth  letter  to  the  Rev.  Drs.  Power,  Varela,  and  Levins.  He  has  assigned  no 
reason  why  he  refuses  to  publish  the^rsf.  He  seems  to  ofter  tico  reasons  for  refusing  to 
publish  the  last.  First,  he  aftects  to  refuse  its  admission  into  his  columns,  because  it  appeareil 
in  otlier  papers.  Now,  this  is  extraordinary :  for  this  twelfth  letter  was  put  in  manuscript,  into 
Mr.  Denman's  hands,  by  my  friend,  actually  two  or  three  entire  days  before  any  paper  pub- 
lished it !  Nay,  he  had  actually  refused  its  admission,  and  had  put  the  Priests'  letter  in  its 
place,  bcforchc  knew  that  other  papers  would  publish  it  on  the  same  day.  So  much  for  Roman  truth ! 
The  second  reason  is  this:  "It  does  not  come  to  the  point;  it  is  no  reply  to  the  Rev. 
Priests."  And  he  is  pleased  to  repeat  this,  in  his  last  Saturday's  paper,  in  these  words,— 
''  Unless  Dr.  B.  will  confine  himself  to  the  topics  under  discussion,  we  must  close  this  contro- 
versy." Now,  I  will  not  gravely  ofter  to  refute  what  the  asserter  himself  never  has  believed. 
He  and  his  readers  know  well  that  I  have  stuck  ''terribly''  close  to  the  topic  under  discus- 
sion :  and  the  excoriations  of  the  retreating  priests  make  them  feel  it.  No  one,  it  is  true, 
can  claim  any  merit  in  doing  this:  one  only  sees  what  a  plain,  and  simple  exposition  of  gos- 
pel truth  and  historical  facts  can  do  on  the  bare  nerves  of  a  culprit's  guilty  conscience ! 
Does  any  man  think  so  meanly  of  the  intellects  of  Drs.  Power,  Levins  and  Varela,  as  to  im- 
agine for  a  moment,  that  they  seriously  helieve  in  all  that  impious  nonsense  which  consti- 
tutes the  doctrines  and  rites  of  the  Romish  sect?  No,  they  laugh  it  to  scorn,  while  they 
teach  it.  What  Cicero  spoke  of  the  old  Roman  Augurs,  I  apply  as  a  scourge  of  scorpions 
to  these  priests.  After  they  return  from  the  exhibition  of  this  bufloonery,  trumpery,  mira- 
cles, and  mummery  in  the  chapel,  "  they  cannot  help  laughing  in  each  other's  faces,  as  they 
pull  oft'  their  motley  robes,  and  charlatan  dress!" 

But  even  admitting  that  these  men  did  think  my  letters  wide  of  the  point,  and  that  "  I  never 
confine  myself  to  the  topics  in  discussion,"  who  constituted  William  Denman  and  the 
Priests,  the  judge,  counsel,  and  jury,  to  pronounce  on  me  ?  I  tell  these  men  that  I  am  the 
only  and  sole  judge  of  what  I  deem  fit  to  say :  and  the  christian  public  is  the  only  umpire 
between  us.  But,  after  all,  if  the  editor  and  his  holy  council  of  priests  deemed  my  letters 
"  so  silly,  so  extravagant,  and  so  wide  of  the  point,"  do  they  not  see  that  this  icas  the  very 
reason  why  they  should  publish  them  ?     Yes,  publish  them,  and  cover  the  heretic  with  confusion  ! 

It  is  proper  hereto  state,  that  the  editor  of  the  R.  catholic  paper,  took  it  upon  himself  not 
only  to  witlihold  my  Letter  from  his  readers ,  but  to  convert  my  short  introduction,  into  a 
formal  Letter,  and  even  to  forge  and  append  my  signature,  as  above,  to  these  introductory 
sentences.  And  he  has,  moreover,  had  the  audacity  to  insert  a  sentence  which  I  did  not 
write,  in  order  to  serve  the  purpose  of  making  me  convey  the  idea  that  I  meant  to  give  my 
Roman  catholic  readers  no  other  answer  whatever,  to  the  last  Letter  of  the  priests,  than  the 
above. 

As  it  now  is,  I  deem  it  disreputable  to  any  man  of  honor,  to  have  any  further  inter^^ourse 
with  him,  in  the  premises. 

I  shall,  therefore,  ofter  no  more  of  my  letters  to  his  columns,  until  he  publish  the  two  letters 
which  he  now  has  on  hand ;  and  also  make  the  amejide  honorable  before  the  christian  public, 
for  these  crimes  which  he  has  committed  against  good  taste,  honor,  and  sound  morals. 

I  am  respectfully, 

August  5,  1833.  ^'  ^    ^ 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  159 

LETTER  Xin. 

TO    DRS.    POWER   AND    VARELA,    AND    MR.    LEVINS. 

"Ante  Nicocniim  concilium  sibi  quisqiie  vivcbat:  f 

Et  ad  Romanam  Ecclesiarn  parvus  liabcbatur  respectus." 
^neas  Sylvius,  Pope  Pius  II.  Epis.  288. 

Gentlemen  : — We  noticed  in  our  last  Letter,  your  idle  claims  to  antiquity  and 
catholicity.     I  have  now  to  observe, — 

3d.  That  succession  is  another  mark  claimed  by  the  exclusive  Roman  catholic 
sect.  By  this  their  writers  mean  to  convey  the  idea,  that  their  sect  alone  is  that  churcli 
to  which  Christ  gave  the  promise  "I  am  with  j^ou  :"  and  the  assurance  "that  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."  They  alone,  say  they,  have  the  direct 
lineal  succession  from  Christ  by  St.  Peter,  and  the  other  popes:  all  the  other  claim- 
ants in  the  Greek  church,  the  Syriac,  the  African,  the  Old  Italick,  the  Waldensian, 
and  Protestant  church,  are  all,  to  a  man  ^^  damnable  heretics,  for  lohich  there  is  no  sal- 
vation ;  it  being  iinpossible  that  God  can  save  any  except  Roman  catholics.''''  This  is 
tiie  genuine  and  immutable  doctrine  of  the  Roman  sect  I  And  your  books  contain- 
ing this  insane  doctrine  lie  open  before  the  American  public ! 

I  will  not  discuss  here,  the  question  of  ordination.  I  simply  observe  that  we  advo- 
cate it  on  gospel  principles ;  and  reject  with  abhorrence,  the  superstitious  and  fanatical 
rite  which  Romish  priests  are  pleased  facetiously  to  call  ordination,  and  consecration ! 
It  has  no  more  authority  from  Christ  the  only  head  of  the  church,  than  has  any  rite 
of  Mohammed,  or  the  living  idol  of  Thibet.  This  we  noticed  formerly.  There  must 
be  a  call  of  God's  providence  (Heb.  5.  4.)  and  a  call  of  a  church  given  to  a  pastor, — 
"  Come  over  and  help  us."  The  man  who  wants  these,  has  no  right  before  God,  or 
the  church,  to  ordination.  He  who  wants  these,  "climbs  up  another  way,"  and  has 
the  seal  of  reprobation  branded  on  his  forehead,  "  as  a  thief  and  a  robber  !"  Such  is 
the  appointment  and  destination  of  the  Roman  priest  by  his  bishop :  no  call,  no  con- 
sent of  "the  church,"  is  asked  for  :  they  are  ipso  facto,  usurpers,  put  "into  livings," 
by  ghostly  tyranny,  and  usurped  power.  The  whole  system  is  a  conspiracy  against 
Christ's  crown  and  authority,  and  an  outrage  on  the  consciences,  and  rights  of 
freemen. 

In  their  claims  of  succession,  the  Roman  sect  ludicrously  assert  that  they  have  an 
unbroken  line  of  descent  from  "  Christ  the  first  pope,"  through  "  St.  Peter  the  second 
pope,"  down  to  this  day.  This  is  ingeniously  figured  forth,  and  proved,  by  a  painting 
to  be  seen  in  Roman  catholic  families,  and  which  was  described  to  me,  the  other  day, 
by  a  friend  of  mine,  to  whom  it  was  shown  in  Philadelphia.  In  this  portion  of  their 
"  genuine  tradition,"  strong  as  proofs  of  holy  writ,  Christ  is  represented  as  ascending: 
and  a  stream  of  his  blood  is  issuing  in  an  arched  line  from  his  veins ;  and  is  entering 
into  the  veins  of  St.  Peter;  and  through  him  into  the  veins  of  the  popes,  in  regular 
succession.  Hence  they  are  the  genuine  successors  "63/  blood  relationship."  And 
this  morsel  of  tradition,  ingeniously  committed  to  paper,  is  more  firmly  believed  by 
"the  .simple  faithful,"  than  is  any  passage  in  all  the  New  Testament.  Such  is  the 
force  of  invincible  but  culpable  ignorance. 

Now,  to  reap  any  benefit  from  '■'■the  succession,'^  one  would  naturally  suppose  that 
the  "  universal  particular  church  of  Rome,"  should  first,  prove  their  succession  ;  and 
then  prove  their  exclusive  succession.     For  he  who  claims  all  the  inheritance,  and 


160  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

leaves  none  to  any  other,  must,  of  course,  prove  that  no  one  but  himself  is  heir.  But 
imfortQnately  for  these  exclusive  claims  of  the  Roman  bigots,  the  Greek  church  has 
genuine  apostolical  descent.  The  church  at  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  had  it ;  the  most 
ancient  and  famous  church  at  Antioch  has  it,  and  has  its  Patriarch  sitting  in  St.  Peter's 
chair  to  this  day ;  also  the  church  of  Africa,  once  so  famous  ;  and  through  the  genu- 
ine Old  Italick  church,  from  A\hich  your  sect  apostatized,  the  Waldenses  had  their 
true,  apostolical  succession.  Then  hear  the  words  of  your  own  Pope  Gregory  I.  of 
whose  writings  you  and  your  bishops  are  so  scandalously  ignorant.  That  "  saint," 
and  pope  has  declared,  and  you  ought  to  know  it,  that  "  St.  Peter's  primacy  descend- 
ed to  three  bishopricks,  namely,  that  of  Antioch,  of  Alexandria,  and  of  Rome."  See 
his  Epis.  40.  Lib.  7.  Tom.  ii.  p.  887.  Paris  Edit,  of  170.5.  And,  moreover,  he  pro- 
nounces the  title  and  claims  of  "  Supreme  and  universal  bishop,''  to  be  the  invention 
of  antichrist,  who  was  already  in  the  world." — Even  a  priest's  ignorance  cannot  deny 
that  St.  Gregory  the  pope  wrote  this.  Now,  if  you  believe  him,  you  must  renounce 
your  exclusive  succession :  if  you  do  not  believe  him,  then  do  you  pronounce  him  a 
lying  heretic  :  and  therefore  "  the  infallible"  "  Holy  Mother  and  pope,"  who  canonized 
him,  and  "the  infallible  and  immutable  Holy  Mother  church,"  who  worships  him  on 
his  saintly  day,  is  no  more  infallible  and  immutabk  !  Choose  ye  with  which  horn  of 
this  dilemma,  you  shall  be  pierced,  and  ecclesiastically  slain. 

You  are  perfectly  aware  that  no  satisfactory  historical  evidence  has  ever  been  pro- 
duced by  your  writers  that  Peter  ever  was  at  Rome.  Every  intelligent  Roman  ca- 
tholic is  aware  that  it  rests  solely  on  the  fictions  of  interested  priests.  Several  writers 
have,  on  our  side  of  the  question,  entered  into  accurate  chronological  arguments  to 
jshow  that  Peter  never  was  there,  as  a  presiding  teacher.  I  beg  to  refer  to  Willet's 
Synopsis  Papismi,  p.  141.  There  is  no  evidence  in  the  Bible  that  Peter  was  at 
Rome ;  far  less  that  he  was  a  pope.  If  he  was  pope,  how  utterly  inexcusable,  un- 
dutiful,  and  wicked,  must  St.  Paul  have  been  ;  who  resided  there  so  long;  and  never 
had  the  grace  or  good  manners  to  salute  him,  or  send  his  due  pontijical  salutations,  or 
even  to  mention  the  name  of  "  the  lord  your  god  pope  Peter .'"  Nay,  if  "  lord  Peter" 
had  been  pope,  he  must  have  been  a  most  unprincipled  man.  For  Paul,  when  brought 
])efore  Nero,  at  least  two  years  before  Peter's  death,  says,  "At  my  first  answer,  no 
man  stood  by  me  :  but  all  men  forsook  me  :  I  pray  God  that  it  may  not  be  laid  to  their 
charge."  Now,  you  must  admit,  either  that  "  lord  Peter,"  was  not  pope,  and  not  even 
present  in  Rome  ;  or  that  he  was  a  foul  traitor  to  Christ,  and  the  cause  for  which 
Paul  was  nobly  suffering.  You  insist  on  it  that  he  was  present:  that  he  was  pope. 
Therefore  you  compel  us  to  believe  that  you  and  "the  Holy  Mother  church"  are  no- 
torious slanderers  of  your  own  pope  Peter. 

Besides  it  is  singular  that  your  writers  should  betray  such  ignorance  of  your  own 
canons.  I  beg  you  to  look  into  Decret.  pars.  I.  Cap.  2  Anacletus,  Sec.  These  canons 
make  your  ridiculous  fictions  aljout  Peter's  headship,  stand  out  in  bold  relief.  I  shall 
quote  the  canon,— "Ambo  Ecclesiam,  &cc.  Both  Paul  and  Peter  did  consecrate  the 
Roman  church."  Irena^us  says  the  same.  Lib.  iii.  cap.  3.  And,  as  St.  Paul  was 
"not  a  whit  behind  the  very  chiefest  apostles;"  and  did  even  administer  a  severe 
apostolical,  and  therefore  a  super-pontifical  rebuke  to  "  lord  Peter,  the  pope,"— you 
must,  to  make  your  succession  and  exclusive  claims  good,  show  the  evidence  of  your 
succession  from  "lord  Paul,"  the  pope,  also.  Or,  as  a  necessary  alternative,  you 
must  abjure  the  Bible  evidence  ;  and  what  is  more  with  you,  you  must  abjure  and  deny 
your  own  canons.     Or,  finally,  if  you   choose  for  once  to  be  honest  men,  renounce 


ROBLiN    CATHOLIC     CONTKOVERSY.  161 

your  absurd  succession.     "Quid  faciam  Roma), — mentiri  nescio," — **What  can  I  do 
at  Rome,  I  cannot  fabricate  lies,"  said  a  true  prophet. 

But,  gentlemen,  even  admitting  that  the  apostles  had  successors  as  apostles^  which, 
we  have  already  proved,  they  had  not ;  and  even  admitting  it  possible  that  you  can 
get  over  the  infinity  of  historical  and  chronological  difhculiies,  which  every  body  sees 
lying  in  your  wa}', — your  succession  has  failed,  and  is  lost  in  inextricable  ruin ! 
This  I  took  the  liberty  of  proving  in  my  Letter  IV.  and  you  made  no  reply :  you 
durst  not  touch  the  subject:  your  silence  was  ample  evidence  that  you  cannot  disen- 
tangle the  question  of  succession  from  its  labyrinth  of  confusion,  and  contradictions. 
There  is  not  one  sensible  man  among  you  that,  for  one  moment,  believes  it.  I  should 
insult  your  intellectual  powers  did  I  even  insinuate  that  you,  gentlemen  priests,  do 
3'ourselves  believe  this  "  fundamental  tenet."  And  as  for  "the  simple  faithful  priests"' 
who  know  no  better,  and  "the  simple  faithful  laymen,"  who  belieAC  infinitely  more 
tJian  they  know  any  thing  about, — why,  they  believe  in  the  succession  and  the  de 
scent  of  the  "//o/^  prastes,''  just  as  strongly,  and  on  just  as  good  evidence,  as  do  the 
intelligent  pagans  of  the  East,  that  "  the  world  is  a  large  flat  body,  resting  on  the  back 
of  a  huge  land  turtle!" 

I  shall  only  add  here  that  your  line  of  succession  from  the  apostolic  church  is  bro- 
ken otf,  by  the  total  and  utter  loss  of  the  bond  of  holiness.  You  are  "  The  man  of 
sin,"  trallicking  "in  sin,"  and  in  "the  souls  of  men,"  as  I  shall  show,  when  I  come 
to  indulgences,  and  the  pope's  chancery  book  containing  the  registered  price  of  every 
sin,  and  the  fixed  price  of  men's  souls!  The  succession  of  doctrine  also  is  utterly 
and  incurably  destroyed.  This  I  showed  in  Letter  VIII.  You  have  renounced  every 
grand  peculiar  doctrine  of  the  gospel :  even  your  recognition  of  the  Trinity,  is  merely 
nominal :  the  main  object  of  your  worship  is  "  The  Queen  of  heaven,"  she  who 
"commands  her  son," — namely  the  Virgin  3Iary,  she  is  in  your  spiritual  heaven,  and 
in  your  temples,  what  Veiius  was  in  the  East,  and  Jupiter  was  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans!  You  have  practically  lost  the  most  holy  doctrine  of  Trinity,  utterly  in 
vour  thirty  thousand  gods  and  goddesses,  usually  named  saints,  and  sainlesses !  And 
this  being  the  case  with  the  object  of  divine  worship,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  not  even  one 
essential  doctrine  of  the  gospel  has  kept  its  place  in  your  system.  All  these  have  been 
quenched  in  your  heavens !  All  is  dreariness  and  darkness :  your  skies  are  covered 
with  a  veil  of  blackness:  no  one  soliiar}-  star  sparkles  there!  Now  this  being  the 
case,  hear  the  words  in  St.  Clement's  Epist.  I.  wliich  you  admit  to  be  genuine  ;  St.- 
Peter  there  declares  that  "  the  true  succession  is  in  the  succession  of  doctrine."  Alto 
your  Pope  Felix  says — "  Qui  participes,  &c.  those  who  would  share  the  apostlesbip, 
must  follow  the  apostles'  doctrine."  So  also  in  your  Decret.  P.  I.  dist.  40.  cap.  I. 
"  Petrus,  &c.  Peter  left  the  inheritance  of  innocence  to  his  heirs."  And  let  me  add 
a  valuable  extract  from  Gregory  Nazianzen: — "To  ^tcv  yap  &ic.  He  that  holdeth  tlic 
same  doctrine  is  of  the  same  chair  ;  but  he  who  is  an  enemy  to  the  doctrine,  is  an 
enemy  to  the  chair."  Orat.  21.  In  Laud.  Athanasii:  Paris  Edit.  1778.  Therefore 
your  SUCCESSION  is  broken  off"  utterly,  and  forever! 

This  is  not  all.  We  shall  pay  our  respect  to  some  of  the  prominent  popes,  through 
whom  you  claim  your  "holy  and  unbroken  line  of  succession."  Asimpic  detail  from 
history  will  show  what  kind  of  a  thing  this  "holy  and  unbroken  line  of  Roman  suc- 
cession" is. 

The  popedom  of  Peter,  and  that  of /oon,  the  female  pope,  rest  on  equal  evidence. 
Peter's  papacy  was  not  mentioned  for  several  centuries  after  his  death :  Joan's  was 

15* 


162  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

not  registered  for  two  hundred  years  after  her  decease.  But  even  supposing  the  fiction 
true,  that  he  was  pope  in  good  earnest,  the  Roman  writers,  and  even  the  ancient 
fathers  cannot  agree  who  were  the  immediate  successors  of  lord  Peter,  the  fisherman ! 
Seven  of  the  fathers  with  Augustine,  make  Linus  the  second  bishop  of  Rome.  Tertul- 
lian  and  the  Latins  make  Clemens  the  second.  Cossait,  in  his  great  work,  the  Con- 
cilia^  cannot  determine  from  any  existing  evidence,  which  of  these  was  the  successor 
of  lord  Peter.  lie  frankly  admits  "the  uncertainty  of  the  pontifical  succession." 
Latterly  the  supposition  inclines  to  favor  Linus.  But,  it  so  happens  that  "the  Apos- 
tolical constitutions"  bear  witness  that  Linus,  your  second  pope,  was  ordained  not  by 
pope  Peter,  but  by  Paul.  This  fairly  upsets  the  succession  from  lord  Peter,  by  Linus. 
See  Ap.  Con.  Lib.  vii.  4G,  and  Labbeus,  Lib.  i.  63. 

Again,  Baronius,  Bellarmine  and  others  make  Cletus,  and  Anacletus  two  different 
popes:  Cotelerius,  Fleury,  and  others  make  them  the  same  man  :  Bruys  and  Cossart 
declare  that  it  is  perfectly  uncertain  whether  they  were,  or  w^ere  not  the  same  man ! 
Twenty  other  Roman  writers  have  entered  the  lists  to  settle  this  interminable  point ! 
See  Cotelerius,  Tom.  i.  p.  387.Binii  Concilia  Tom.  i.  p.  30,  «S:c.,  &c.;  Edgar's  Va- 
riations of  Popery,  p.  75,  Dublin  Edition. 

The  learned  and  solemn  triflings  of  Romish  writers  fully  establish  this  point, — 
namely,  that  there  was  not  a  soul  of  them  that  knew  any  thing  about  the  papal  suc- 
cession! And  the  sum  of  the  ivhole  is  this, — it  is  a  truth  about  as  certain,  and  as 
valuable,  as  that  of  the  true  successor  of  Robin  Hood,  or  Jack,  the  giant  killer  !  Thus 
gentlemen,  to  avail  mj^self  of  a  truly  expressive  Irishism, — the  pontifical  succession 
was  fairl}^  cutoff,  before  it  began ! 

But  passing  this, — and  supposing  the  impossible  thing  to  have  happened,  the  grand 
schisms  have  utterly  cut  off  your  succession.  Dr.  Geddes  in  his  valuable  work,  in 
four  volumes  on  the  papacy,  enumerates  twenty-four  schisms:  your  Baronius  tiventy- 
six ;  Onuphrius  the  most  accurate  of  writers,  makes  thirty:  this,  said  Edgar,  in  his 
Variatioiis  of  popery,  is  the  commonly  received  estimation.  The  detailed  account  I 
have  before  me  by  Geddes  and  Edgar:  and  could  I  find  room  for  it,  I  should  exliibit 
a  history  of  wars,  bloodshed,  perjury,  treason,  blasphemy,  and  the  most  horrid 
impieties,  reigning  triumphant  in  the  very  throne  of  the  pope,  and  in  all  bis  dominions ; 
and  unparalleled  in  all  history^ !  A  few  specimens  I  shall  glean  from  the  principal 
writers. 

The  second  schism  was  between  popes  Liberius  and  Felix  in  the  fourth  century. 
Felix  was  chosen  by  the  Arian  faction  to  oppose  Liberius,  who  vras  thence  banished. 
But  having  signed  the  Arian  creed,  he  was  recalled:  then  commenced  the  bloody 
wars  between  these  two  Arian  popes.  "  The  wars  raged  long,  the  clergy  were  mur- 
dered, by  the  opposing  factions,  in  the  very  churches." 

St.  Augustine,  and  Jerome,  followed  by  the  moderns  Fleury,  and  IMorery,  Tom. 
iv.  p.  42,  unite  in  pronouncing  pope  Felix  an  Arian  heretic  !  St-  xA-thanasius,  Ad 
Sol.,  calls  him  a  monster  raised  to  the  Roman  hierarchy,  by  the  malice  of  Anti-christ ! 
See  Labbeus,  Tom.  ii.  p.  99L — Bruys,  Hist.  Des  papes,  Tom.  i.  p.  123,  Edgar's 
Var,  p.  76. 

And  will  the  American  public  believe  me,  when  I  declare  to  them  that  these  two 
bloody  monsters  and  Arian  heretics,  were  after  all  their  murders^  perjury,  and  heresy, 
solemnly  enrolled  in  the  ghostly  list  of  Roman  saints!  St.  Felix  !  St.  Liberius  !  These 
are  their  tides.  And  here  are  the  words  w^hich  our  priests  address  to  them  in  prayer, 
on  their  festival  days, — even  to  these  murderers,  and  deniers  of  our  Lord's  deity. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  163 

"O/i/  St.  Liberius,  the  light  of  the  holy  church,  lover  of  the  divine  law,  whom  God 
loved,  and  clothed  with  the  love  of  glonj, —procure  for  us  by  thy  interceding  merits,  the 
pardon  of  all  our  sins  P^  See  Rom.  Breviary,  p.  35.  And  Rom.  Missal,  p.  14.  The 
same  worship  is  to  this  ver^'  day,  offered  up  to  the  bloody  and  atrocious  Felix  as  a 
saint,  a  pope,  a  martyr!  And  to  this  kind  of  gods,  do  Drs.  Power,  Levins,  and 
Varela,  offer  up  this  kind  of  prayers!  If  they  neglect  to  do  it,  they  know  that  they 
are  perjured  men.  For  tliey  liave  taken  the  great  oath  to  do  it,  and  to  do  it  regularly, 
on  pain  of  damnation  in  their  soul,  and  their  body ! 

The  /o«r</t  schism  was  between  popes  ICulalius  and  Boniface  in  the  fifth  century. 
After  many  shameful  scenes,  the  emperor  decided  the  matter,  and  by  imperial  and 
military  powers,  commanded  Boniface  to  be  pope !  It  is  evident  that  at  this  time,  the 
Roman  emperor  dictated  the  election.  Our  ])riests,  and  "Holy  Mother,"  must  there- 
fore admit  that  Peter's  spiritual  lordship  had,  at  this  early  period,  yielded  to  the  tem- 
poral power  of  the  emperor  Ilonorius,  and  his  successors. 

The  seventh  schism  was  originated  by  popes  Silverius  and  Vigilius,  in  the  sixth 
century.  Tlie  first  was  elected  by  simony  and  fraud;  and  he  was  ordained  by  force 
and  violence.  He  was  created  pope  by  the  king  of  the  Goths.  Vigilius  his  rival 
was  elected  by  another  faction,  by  simony  and  fraud,  equal  in  atrocitj^  to  that  of  his 
antagonist.  He  received  700  ])ieces  of  gold,  and  the  popedom  from  the  empress 
Theodora,  on  condition  of  his  aiding  her  purposes.  This  he  accepted ;  and  was 
raised  to  the  papacy.  This  "holy  and  infallible  pope,"  in  order  to  get  rid  of  his 
rivals,  suborned  false  witnesses  to  swear  tliat  Silverius  was  plotting  to  betray  Rome 
to  the  Goths.  He  paid  two  hundred  pieces  of  gold  for  his  testimony  of  the  perjurer. 
It  succeeded  :  the  rivaH^as  banished,  and  shortly  after  this,  he  was  starved  to  death  ; 
others  say,  assassinated.  See  Godeau,  iv.  104.  Platina,  GS.  Now,  it  is  obvious 
that,  according  to  your  ov\^n  canons,  both  of  these  popes  were  illegally  chosen.  Here 
the  links  of  the  chain  were  again  broken.  Besides  the  cliaracter  of  Vigilius  who 
professed  to  transmit  the  succession,  was  atrociously  wicked.  Covetousness,  and 
the  impious  mockery  of  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  were  among  his  least  sins.  He 
murdered  his  secretary  liy  the  blow  of  a  club:  he  scourged  his  nephew  to  death;  and 
was  accessary  to  the  murder  of  the  pope,  his  rival.     See  Platina,  68. 

The  thirteenth  schism  took  place  in  the  cb)seof  the  ninth  century  :  it  disgraced  the 
papacy  of  Fonnosus,  and  Sergius.  The  first  was  elected  contrary'  to  the  bulls  of 
popes  Nicholas,  and  .Tulius.  But  he  was  sustained  by  the  power  of  the  king  of  the 
Goths.  Sergius,  his  rival,  was  finally  expelled,  and  died  an  exile.  Formosus  did 
not  long  enjoy  his  guilty  power  and  honors.  Six  years  after  his  election,  he  died. 
The  atrocious  jiope  Stephen  was  his  successor.  This  "Vicar  of  God"  or<lered  his 
predecessor,  Formosus,  also  a  "  Vicar  of  God,"  to  be  dug  out  of  his  grave.  He  had 
liim  dressed  in  his  pontificals :  and  gravely  brought  into  court,  to  be  tried.  The 
question  was  put  to  him,  "  How  dared  \ou,  being  bishop  of  Porto,  to  allow  yourself  to 
be  raised  to  the  Holy  Sec?"  The  dead  body  not  making  any  reply,  as  njight  natu- 
rally be  expected,  his  silence  was  deemed  guilt;  he  was  solemnly  condemned,  his 
popedom  declared  illegal  and  invalid  :  his  head  and  three  of  his  fingers  were  cut  off; 
and  his  mangled  body  cast  into  the  Tyber.  The  scenes  which  followed  this,  were 
outrageous  and  horrible.  The  "holy  and  infallible  father"  Stephen  died  in  a  dun- 
geon by  the  rope!  Bruys  pronounces  his  eulogium, — "This  father  and  teacher  of 
all  christians,"  says  the  popish  writer, — "was  as  ignorant  as  he  was  wicked."  "He 
was  guilty  of  a  wicked  and  unheard  of  sacrilege,"  says  Barouius.     Pope  John  X.,  in 


164  ROMAN   CATHOLIC    COr^TROVERSY. 

his  turn  helped  to  cut  off' your  succession  by  condemning  pope  Stephen  and  re-esta- 
blishing the  interests  of  pope  Fomiosus.  But  all  things  are  mutable  in  "immutable 
£md  infallible  Rome."  Pope  Sergius  III.  pronounced  his  ban  on  the  decrees  of  pope 
John  X.,  reverses  his  acts :  restores  the  ordination  of  pope  Stephen,  and  condemns 
the  ordinations  of  pope  Formosus.  See  Platina,  p.  127.  Now,  it  is  utterly  idle  for 
any  man  to  attempt  to  trace  the  genuine  succession  through  all  these  confusions 
and  tumults,  and  wickedness.  If  these  men  were  christian  pastors  and  '^  the  pure 
s^iccessors''^  of  Peter,  then  what  holy  and  exalted  saints  must  Nero  and  Tamerlane 
have  been ! 

Baronius,  I  am  aware,  ventures  to  make  a  somewhat  different  inference  from  this. 
After  a  suitable  degree  of  railing  at  the  Protestants,  as  he  always  does  when  he  is  con- 
strained to  narrate  some  of  the  infamous  acts  of  the  popes,  by  way  of  a  Jesuit's  offset, 
and  ruse  de  giisrre,  he  very  gravely  pronounces  this  succession  of  abominable  popes 
"a  clear  demonstration  that  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Roman  see  can  never 
possibly  be  destroyed.  For,  if  it  could,"  says  he,  "  such  a  long  succession  of  monsters 
in  vice  and  folly  must  infallibly  have  ruined  it."  What  an  admirable  argument 
this  would  have  been  in  the  lips  of  the  Roman  pagan  emperors,  who,  you  know, 
were  also  the  supreme  pontics  of  the  pagan  superstition.  "Verily,"  they  might  have 
said,  "  we  have  here  the  evidence  of  the  truth  of  our  holy  pagan  idolatry,  and  a  demon- 
stration that  our  poniifical  authority  can  never  possibly  be  destroyed.  For  if  the 
pagan  religion  were  false,  and  if  my  pontifical  authority  could  be  destroyed, — surely 
such  a  long  succession  of  atrocious  despots,  must,  by  their  vice  and  folly,  long  ago 
have  ruined  it!"  The  fact  is  this,  in  each  of  these  cases,  the  boasters  had  nothing  to 
lose !  The  divinity  of  Roman  catholic  despotism  and  of  pagan  despotism ;  being 
equally  doubtful  of  proof;  and  equally  from  Peter  and  from  heaven! 

The  nineteenth  schism  happened  in  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century.  It  re- 
vealed scenes  more  shocking  than  any  thing  hitherto  conceived.  As  Rome  catholic 
advanced  in  age,  she  increased,  by  a  double  compound  ratio,  in  all  possible  wicked- 
ness. There  were  three  popes  in  this  schism.  Benedict  was  elected  in  A.  D.  1033. 
He  was  placed  in  the  "holy  chair,"  by  simony,  the  universal  and  every  day  sin  of 
Rome  ;  and  by  faction,  and  tj'ranny.  His  life  was  a  compound  of  all  the  pollution  of 
the  Roman  pagans  compressed  into  one  little  soul  and  body.  This  was  "  the  holy 
father  of  Rome,"  the  only  "judge  of  all  controversy,"  "the  fountain  of  indulgences 
and  pardon  of  sin"  for  money!  Silvester  was  put  up  as  a  rival  to  this  monster;  and 
he  expelled  Benedict.  John  was  the  third  pope,  at  this  time.  Benedict,  without 
resigning,  sold  the  papacy  to  John  for  £1500:  and  was  quiet  as  long  as  this  money 
ministered  to  his  diabolical  lusts  and  wickedness.  Silvester  who  had  been  driven 
away  by  one  faction,  again  returned  and  seized  the  Vatican.  Benedict  having  spent 
his  money,  also  renewed  his  claims  to  that  office  which  he  had  sold  for  gold.  These 
three  ruffian  popes,  by  violence  and  bloodshed,  kept  possession  of  the  Lateran,  the 
Vatican,  and  St.  Mary's.  "A  three-headed  beast,"  said  your  two  writers,  Labbeus 
and  Binius,  "  rising  from  the  gates  of  hell,  infested  the  holy  chair  in  a  vvoful  manner." 
Labb.  vol.  xi.  p.  1280.  Bin.  vol.  vii.  p.  221.  And  Baronius,  your  orthodox  Roman 
historian  also  calls  them  "the  three  headed  beast  which  had  issued  from  the  gates  of 
hell!"  Tom.  xi.  Annal.  A.  D.  lO^-l. — You  have  Cerberus,  then,  in  the  "pure  and 
holy  line"  of  your  succession  ! ! 

And  how  was  a  remedy  brought  to  this  state  of  things?  Your  Baronius  has  faith- 
fully told  the  tale  in  Tom.  xi.  Annal  of  A.  D.  1044,    "  As  the  mouths  of  the  real  Cer^ 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  165 

herus,  with  its  three  heads,  were  stopped  only  by  ♦  a  pitchy  mouthful,'  says  he,  so  a 
certain  '  pious  man'  of  the  name  of  Gratian,  bethought  of  a  similar  scheme."  The 
three  mouths  of  this  monster  pope  could  be  stopped,  he  was  sure,  with  money.  For 
money  you  know,  gentlemen,  is  the  only  omnipotent  god  of  your  "  Holy  31other"  and 
her  priests!  This  man,  Gratian,  actually  bought  the  pope's  chair,  with  all  the  spirit- 
ual powers,  and  honors,  and  apurtenances,  thereto  belonging,  be  they  less  or  more. 
He  bought  it,  with  all  its  names,  titles,  and  attributes,  of  anticjuity,  catholicity,  succes- 
sion, unity,  miraculosity,  and  sanctity.  The  three  popes  formally  made  over  "  Holy 
Mother  Church"  for  gold  ! !  Benedict,  one  of  the  holy  fathers,  for  instance,  was  to 
have  all  the  revenues  arising  from  England,  while  he  lived :  and  the  other  holy  pair 
had  their  just  share!  And  the  purchaser,  by  the  merits  of  his  gold,  was  duly  made 
Pope,  "Vice-God,"  and  the  "Holy  father"  of  the  faithful,  to  open  heaven  and  shut 
it  on  whom  he  pleased.  This  new  and  fourth  existing  pope  assumed  the  name  of 
Gregory  YI.  I  have  only  to  add  that  your  writers,  Platina  and  Damian  tell  us  with 
much  gravity  that  Benedict,  this  wicked  pope,  who  caused  this  schism,  and  bloodshed, 
and  misery  was  subjected  to  punishment  after  death.  Yes,  the  father  of  the  faithful 
and  "God's  vice-regent"  was  doomed  to  punishment!  He  appeared,  say  they,  to  a 
traveller,  with  the  graceful  countenance  of  "  a  bear,"  and  a  head  decorated  with  the 
"long  ears  of  an  ass!"  he  was  ornamented  also  with  the  long  tail  of  an  ass!  The 
traveller  had  the  courage  to  ask  him, — having  found  out  that  it  was  his  "  Holiness,'* 
what  could  possibly  be  the  cause  of  such  a  wicked  and  unholy  transformation? 
"Ah!"  said  the  deceased  Holy  Father, — "this  is  the  due  reward  of  my  pollution 
when  I  was  the  head  of  the  Holy  Mother  !"  This  pcmtiff,  adds  one  of  your  saints,  is 
doomed  to  be  dragged  headlong,  until  the  day  of  judgment,  through  thorns  and  filth, 
in  regions  continually  exhaling  sulphur  and  stench,  and  burning  with  fire.  See  Da- 
mian, c.  3.  Platina,  142.  Spondani,  Epit.  Baronii  VI.  1094.  Edgar  82. 

I  shall  notice  only  one  instance  more :  the  twenty-nintli  schism,  usually  called  the 
great  Western  schism,  began  in  1378.  On  the  death  of  Gregory  XI.  the  conclave,  con- 
sisting of  twelve  French  cardinals,  and  four  Italians  proceeded  to  choose  a  pope.  The 
citizens  of  Rome  had  recently  received  back  the  i)Oi)e  and  court,  after  70  years  ab- 
sence, at  Avignon.  They  very  naturally  supposed,  that  unless  an  overjjowering  mul- 
titude should  give  them  some  salutary  hints,  backed  by  some  well-timed  club-logic,  to 
regulate  their  heterodoxy,  they  might  be  wicked  enough  to  choose  a  Frenchman,  for  a 
Pope :  and  he,  of  course,  they  had  reason  to  fear,  would  retire  to  Avignon,  there  to 
spend  his  riches.  Guided  by  such  disinterested  motives,  they  placed  n  guard  of  honor 
around  the  holy  conclave,  and  ])roceeded  to  give  them  the  necessary  hints  by  30,000 
armed  men ;— namely,  that  if  the  holy  fathers  did  venture  to  choose  a  Frenchman 
for  Pope,  it  must  be  for  no  other  reason  than  their  own  anxiety  to  get  to  heaven  before 
their  time,  as  martyrs!!  The  cardinals  are  remarkably  prudent  men;  they  never 
had  given  a  martyr  to  "  Holy  Mother"  yet;  and  they  did  not  choose,  at  this  time,  to 
begin  the  precedent :  their  Uves  were  exceedingly  valuable ;  g(Jod  men  were  then 
scarce.  They  took  the  liint  from  the  mob :  and  adopted  measures  to  get  ample  ven- 
geance on  both  friends,  and  foes,  and  "  Holy  Mother"  too ! 

They  formally  chose  Urban  VI.  And  then  retiring  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Roman 
mob's  discipline,  they  as  formally  elected  Clement  VII.  Here  your  conclave  chose 
two  opposing  heads  of  "  Holy  Mother."  Clement  set  up  liis  court  at  Avignon  : 
Urban,  at  Rome.     And  from  that  day  all  Europe  was  convulsed  with  wars. 

This  great  schism  lasted  about  50  years.     All  Europe  was  a  great  ecclesiastical 


166  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

arena,  on  which  kings  and  popes  who  are  the  worst  of  men,  entered  the  lists  with 
deadly  animosity,  against  popes  and  kings.  What  little  remains  there  was  of  religion 
in  Europe,  was  nearly  extinguished.  The  ghostly  factions  acted,  usually,  without 
policy,  and  always  without  christian  principle.  "  The  pope's  conscience,"  says  Ed- 
gar, "  evaporated  in  ambition,  selfishness,  and  characteristic  malignity."  The  cam- 
paign was  opened  by  a  volley  of  spiritual  artillery.  The  electors  denounced  pope 
Urban,  and  he  excommunicated  every  soul  of  them,  and  formally  gave  the  holy  car- 
dinals all  over  to  the  devil,  soul  and  body ! !  Clement  paid  Uiban  back  in  full  tale. 
It  was  a  fair  trial  which  pope  could  curse  his  antagonist  with  loudest  thunder  and 
deepest  anathemas  !  Kings  and  Queens  shared  in  the  horrid  curses  !  No  bishop,  or 
priest  escaped.  They  cursed  all  on  each  side,  mutually :  and  each  pope  declared 
that  "  What  he  bound  on  earth  was  bound  in  heaven."  Hence  each  believed,  and 
declared  that  his  antagonist,  and  all  his  adhering  bishops  and  priests,  were  cursed  and 
excommunicated;  and  thence  stripped  of  office,  and  sanctity!  And  in  as  much  as 
each  of  them  was  duly  elected  pope,  and  each  of  them  was  a  gentleman  of  egwaZ  honor 
and  equal  credit,  we  are  bound  in  dut}-,  to  believe  each  of  them  to  have  been  cor- 
rect I  And  as  each  of  these  duly  elected  popes  had  annulled  and  vacated  all  the  ordi- 
nations, collations,  and  promotions  of  his  rival,  of  course  there  was  not  one  bishop,  or 
one  priest  in  all  Europe,  who  was  not  duly  deposed,  and  duly  excommunicated  from 
the  church,  and  stripped  of  his  office.  They  annihilated  the  hierarchy  of  Rome; 
and  it  was  regularly  and  duly  done !  And  I  respectfully  challenge  all  the  Roman 
priests  in  our  Republic,  to  show  an}'  thing  even  plausible,  against  this  historical  fact. 

As  if  to  make  things  doubly  sure,  in  this  formal  deposition,  the  council  of  Pisa 
deposed  and  set  aside  these  two  popes;  and  elected  pope  Alexander.  This,  instead 
of  healing,  made  three  acting  popes!  And  all  Europe  sustained  afresh  convulsion 
by  the  three  fierce  ecclesiastical  factions. 

The  council  of  Constance,  of  atrocious  memory,  met  in  A.  D.  1414.  By  this  time 
pope  John  had  succeeded  pope  Alexander.  The  council  required  the  three  popes  to 
resign  forthwith  :  each  on  oath  solemnly'-  3'ielded  ;  and  swore  on  the  holy  evangelists, 
to  obey.  But  each  of  them  instantly  resumed  his  papacy  :  and  thus,  says  an  able 
writer,  '■'•Holy  Mother  had  three  perjured  heads;  and  there  were  three  ferjured  Vice- 
gods  /"  John  was  deposed  for  his  infamous  crimes :  the  council  actually  proving 
and  declaring  "  the  holy  father"  guilty  of  "  perjury,  incest,  rape,  murder,  and  sodomy," 
See  Labbeus  vol.  xvi.  p.  173,  222,  and  Dupin  vol.  iii.  14. — Gregory  the  next  pope,  ab- 
dicated and  renounced  the  papacy  :  the  third  one,  Benedict,  stood  out :  he  retired  into 
a  strong  castle,  and  there,  deserted  by  all  his  friends,  he  consoled  himself  in  his  dotage, 
by  excommunicating  twice  in  the  day,  with  bell,  book,  and  candle,  all  the  nations  of 
Eiurope  who  had  deserted  his  holy  "  personal  cause  !"  Pope  Martin  was  raised  to  the 
papacy.  And  the  infamous  council  made  itself  an  execration  to  all  generations,  by 
their  treachery  and  infernal  cruelty.  They  condemned,  and  burned  alive,  the  famous 
martyrs  Huss,  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  against  w^hom  they  could  bring  no  charge,  but 
that  of  being  devoted  christians,  and  faithful  opposers  of  the  heresy  of  the  Romish 
sect. 

W^e  might  go  on  to  adduce  a  list  of  ujiwards  of  200  popes  of  a  character,  in  all 
points,  similar  to  these.  But  this  we  deem  enough,  both  to  give  the  public  an  idea  of 
the  line  of  succession  boasted  of  by  the  Roman  catholic  sect :  and,  at  the  same  time, 
to  annihilate  their  ridiculous  claims  of  descent  from  the  apostles!  I  shall  only  add 
that,  were  I  asked  to  select  a  list  of  the  worst  men :  and  the  most  wicked  rulers : 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  167 

■even  the  most  imprincipled  of  the  species, — such  as  atheists,  despots,  mockers  of 
virtue  and  rehgion ;  the  common  enemies  of  God  and  man;  I  would  pass  by  the 
Kings  of  Egypt,  and  Syria,  and  the  despots  of  Assyria,  and  Babylon;  I  would  leavo 
out  the  atrocious  Alexanders ;  and  the  Caesars ;  and  the  Greek  despots ;  and  the  Ro- 
man emperors  :  I  would  even  omit  the  News,  and  the  Tamerlanes : — and  I  would, 
after  making  an  honorable  selection  of  a  few  worthy  names,— give  "the  Popes  of 
Rome,"  as  furni^ihing  that  horrid  list !  Their  enormities,  perpetrated  under  the  mask 
of  holy  religion,  exceed,  in  fact,  the  powers  of  description.  The  characters  of  these 
men,  as  hinted  at  in  St.  John's  Revelations,  "as  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints," 

and  as  exhibited  in  the  history  of  their  lives,  can  no  more  be  adequately  portrayed 

than  can  the  character  of  the  prince  of  darkness !  What  man— what  church,  that 
respects  the  character,  and  claims  the  honor  of  being  Christian,  would  ever  claim 
sjnritual,  or  ecclesiastical  succession  through  such  a  line  of  inhuman,  and  despotic 
tyrants !  Men  !  such  as  the  arch-deceiver  would  select  as  his  prime  ministers  !  Men ! 
who  have  been  the  head,  the  heart,  and  the  ever  ready  hand  of  that  bloody  Romish 
sect,  which  has  already  murdered  sixty-eight  millions  of  the  human  family :  and 
is  now  seeking  with  an  insatiable  ghostly  ambition,  to  regain  its  power,  and  would, 

if  possible,  murder  as  many  more  ! ! 

I  am,  gentlemen,  yours,  &c. 

W.  C.  B. 


In  The  Truth  Teller,  under  the  date  of  August  8,  the  following  Letter  appeared  as 
the  finale  of  the  Priests. 

TO  DR.  BROWNLEE, 

A    PREACHER    IN    THE    MIDDLE    DUTCH    CHURCH. 

This  man  began  to  build,  and  was  not  able  to  finisb.     Luc.  14.  30. 

Rev.  Sir: — Our  controversy  with  you,  personally,  is  terminated.  It  would  be  folly  to 
continue  it  with  a  preacher  who  can  neither  form  nor  appreciate  argument.  Public 
opinion  must  be  respected, — our  own  character  must  not  be  dishonored.  To  continue 
polemic  discussion  with  you  cannot  add  to  reputation,  for  your  substitute  for  argument  are 
falseliood,  ribald  words,  gross  invective,  disgusting  calumny,  and  the  recommendation  of  an 
obscene  tale  !     These  have  been  your  weapons  from  your  first  to  your  last  puerile  letter. 

"In  the  'Truth  Toller'  of  July  6th  and  13th,  the  following  proposition  was  proposed  to 
you :  '  What  articles  of  faith,  found  in  the  scriptures  in  erpress  terms,  must  be  believed  in 
order  to  be  saved  V  You  were,  at  the  same  time,  informed  ihat  '  the  continuation  of  our 
controversy  with  you,  personally,  would  depend  on  your  answer.'  After  a  cautious  delay 
your  answer  was  concocted,— your  articles  of  faitli  found  in  the  scripture  in  express  terms, 
were  given.  Our  last  letter  contained  our  remarks  on  your  Bible  creed.  By  this  creed  you 
exclude  the  trinity,  and  the  incarnation.  What  is  your  answer  to  our  letter?  this:  'Your 
ultra  zealotry'  is  '  ambitioning'  too  much  when  you  find  fault  with  my  scriptural  creed,— or, 
indeed,  any  christian  creed!  This  is  your  theological  answer!  tiiis  is  the  answer  of  the 
erudite  in  the  '  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Holy  Ghost !'  This  is  the  answer  of  the  preacher 
in  the  Middle  Dutch  Church  !  He  says  we  'ambition  too  much  when  we  find  fault  with 
his  scriptural  creed.'  But  his  scriptural  creed  excludes  the  trinity  and  incarnation,  and  to 
find  fault  with  the  exclusion  of  the  trinity  and  incarnation  is,  from  his  own  avowal,  '  ambition- 
ing too  much !'  Hence,  to  secure  the  favor  and  approval  of  preacher  Brownlee,  we  must 
not  'find  fault'  with  the  scriptural  creed  which  excludes  the  trinity  and  incarnatian.     Wej 


1(J3  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

ask  his  *  christian  public,'  is  not  this  an  ample  and  practical  illustration  of  his  protestant  rule 

of  faith." 

"  But,  further  he  writes;  '  Fou  'ambition'  too  much  when  you  find  fault  with  any  christ- 
ian creed  !"  Therefore,  in  the  opinion  of  preacher  Brownlee,  no  christian  creed  is  to  be  con- 
demned. This  is  liberality  !  But  why  does  the  preacher  '  find  fault'  with  the  catholic  ? 
Is  this  consistency  ?  Any  christian  creed  may  be  adopted  :  this  is  the  final,  logical,  and  ortho- 
dox conclusion  from  the  twelve  polemical  letters  of  preacher  Brownlee  on  his  protestant  rule 
of  faith.  This  is  the  triumph  achieved  by  preacher  Brownlee  for  himself,  the  members  of 
the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  and  his  '  virtuous  ladies.'  As  the  bard  sung  of  the  burial  of  Sir 
John  Moore, 

"  'We  leave  him  alone  with  his  glory.'  " 

John  Power, 
August  8th,  1833.  Thos.  C.  Levins. 


LETTER  XIV.— AND  LAST. 

TO    DOCTORS    POWER,    AND    VARELA,    AND    MR.    LEVINS. 

"Therefore  I  will  put  my  hook  in  thy  nose  and  my  bridle  in  thy  lips,  and  I  will  turn 
THEE  BACK  by  the  way,  by  which  thou  camest." — Isai.  xxxvii.  29. 

Gentlemen  : — Indulge  me  in  a  few  words  on  parting,  seeing  that  nothing  can  stop 
your  RETREAT  from  the  defence  of  "Holy  Mother."  And  I  trust,  I  shall  not  be 
deemed  greatly  guilty,  should  I  adopt  a  more  playful  humor,  or,  the  philipic  of  the 
great  master  of  eloquence.  The  former  is  useful  to  relieve  all  parties,  in  the  midst  of 
a  rigid  argument,  and  the  sombre  task  of  searching  tlie  pages  of  the  fathers,  and  the 
dull  lumbering  volumes  of  the  Romish  writers.  The  use  of  the  latter  is  as  necessary 
and  legitimate,  in  rousing  our  slumbering  fellow  citizens  to  a  sense  of  their  imminent 
danger ;  and  in  scourging  the  conspirators  against  our  repubhcan  institutions,  our  Pro- 
testant religion,  and  our  civil  and  religious  liberties, — as  ever  it  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  great  master,  against  the  enemies  of  Greece, 

You  inform  the  public,  gentlemen,  that  "your  controversy  with  me,  'personally  is 
at  an  end."  I  pray  you,  gentlemen,  to  beware  of  rash  words.  Controversy  with  me, 
personally,  you  do  not  mean  to  end.  It  is  true,  this  theological,  and  historical  discus- 
sion has  not,  I  trust,  been  personal  on  my  part.  Personal  sins,  and  flagrant  delin- 
quency I  have  rebuked  :  but  that  is  no  "  personality,"  which  is  levelled  against  crime. 
No,  I  chose  a  higher  aim.  No  priest  can,  in  a  general  discussion,  be  an  object  of 
personal  attack;  when  such  game  is  started, and  in  full  view,  as  ^' Holy  Mother,'^  and 
priestcraft!  It  is  the  head  of  all  evil,  on  earth,  namely  error  and  vice  personified, 
and  completely  embodied  in  Roman  Antichrist,  at  which  the  honest  Protestant  aims 
the  arrows  of  his  quiver; — and  his  "Jerusalem  blade,"  when  he  comes  to  close 
quarters !  But  for  you,  gentlemen, — you  have  labored  in  your  vocation  of  endless 
personalities.  Jesuitism  is  by  nature  and  training,  given  to  personalities  !  Jesuitism 
would  die  of  spleen,  outright,  if  it  did  not  vent  its  personalities.  You  have  given  the 
most  perfect  specimens  in  this  discussion.  You  have,  moreover,  established  the  fact 
to  the  satisfaction  of  your  enemies,  that  Romish  logic  has  never  yet  distinguished 
between  argument  and  personal  abuse.  I  do  not  say  that  this  is  your  personal  in- 
firmity. No.  It  is  of  the  essential  nature  of  the  whole  system.  Jesuitism  is  by  its 
very  nature,  at  war  with  all  mankind,  and  the  good  of  all  civilized  society !     Issuing, 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  169 

ss  ir  did,  from  the  bottomless  pit,  if  its  natural  malignity  and  hatred  of  all  that  is 
good  were  changed,  or  modified,  it  would  of  necessity  die.  ^^  No  faith  ivith  heretics,^^ 
is  the  watchword  of  its  bloodhounds.  The  clanking  of  chains,  and  the  moans  of  the 
tortured  victims  in  the  Inquisition,  have  been  its  favorite  music  :  and  the  fires  of  the 
AUTO  DA  FE,  light  up  its  dreary  and  horrid  pathway !  The  bowels  of  Jesuitism 
yearn  over  us,  according  to  its  natural  parental  feelings !  Wherever  it  had  the  as- 
dency  it  lighted  up  the  gleaming  fires  of  persecution.  When  its  slave.  Queen  Mary, 
mounted  the  throne  of  England,  the  fires  of  Smithfield  were  lighted  up.  We  cast 
our  eyes  over  the  massacres  of  Paris,  and  of  Ireland,  and  in  Piedmont !  We  shudder 
at  the  Auto  clafes  of  Spain  !  And  "you  may  expel  nature  with  a  fork,"  as  the  Ro- 
man poet  said ;  but  nature  will  return  in  its  unsubdued  prurience, — and  to-morrow 
would  Romanism  light  up  the  Smithjidd  Jires,  in  our  Park,  had  this  bloody  sect  the 
political  ascendency  and poicer,  in  our  land! 

How  could  you,  then,  Rev.  Sirs,  be  so  utterly  off  your  guard  as  to  commit  your- 
selves, by  giving  a  pledge  you  never  will  redeem ! — But  so  it  is : — as  your  own  favor- 
ite hath  it : — 

^'  A  man  may  smile,  and  smile,  and  be  a  villain." 

You  have  again  repeated  your  blundering  and  ungrammatical  card,  demanding, — 
*'  What  articles  of  faith  found  in  the  scriptures,  in  express  terms,  must  be  believed  in 
order  to  be  saved  ?"  That  is,  what  articles  are  to  be  believed  to  be  saved?  You 
have  in  all  your  letters,  given  the  American  public  suflficient  specimens,  in  all  con- 
science, of  the  deficiencies  of  a  Romish  theological  education:  you  might  have  spared 
the  public  taste  this  last  infliction !  But  this  little  Card  is  the  youngest  and  last  of  the 
family  :  and  of  course  it  is  a  pet  with  you !  It  is  natural !  In  a  family,  the  youngest, 
little,  rickety  child  is  always  the  object  of  an  absorbing  parental  fondness, — especially 
when  its  parents  are  waxing  old,  and  are  feeble-minded ! 

You  have  given  us  another  specimen  of  Romish  logic  in  your  remarks  touching 
my  scripture  creed.  You  facetiously  affect  to  infer  that  we  reject  certain  doctrines 
because  we  do  not  mention  them  in  express  words.  On  your  principles  a  man  does  not 
believe  what  he  does  not  find  room  to  express  in  certain  phrases  !  Hence,  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  your  profound  logic,  our  Lord,  who  does  not,  in  express  terms,  mention  either 
the  Trinity,  or  the  incarnation,  in  the  Lord's  prayer,  did  not  himself  believe  in  them  i 
This,  however,  is  not  my  main  reply.  Had  your  education  embraced  in  it,  tha  first 
elements  of  a  sound  christian  theology,  and  the  analytic  method  of  evolving  truth — 
you  must  have  seen,  that  in  the  very  first  text  which  I  quoted,  namely,  "  Believe  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved," — the  true  christian  necessarily  be- 
lieves in  the  Father,  who  sent  his  Son  to  redeem  us :  and  in  Jesus  Christ  the  incarnate 
God,  who  in  human  nature,  suffered,  and  died  for  us:  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  who 
*'  creates  us  anew  in  Christ,"  and  gives  us  that  very  faith  by  which  we  receive  Christ. 
However,  I  have  availed  myself  of  your  suggestion: — Nam  fas  est  et  ah  hoste  dtKcril 
I  have,  to  satisfy  you,  added  a  few  more  texts  to  my  *'  scripture  creed,"  in  the  second 
edition  of  my  Letters ;  which  you  will  admit  to  be  now  correct. 

I  shall  not,  therefore,  follow  you  any  farther,  in  your  disjointed,  and  bald  declama- 
tion about  "  Creeds  of  christian  faith"  and  "articles  of  belief."  "Physician,  I  say, 
heal  thyself!"  Those  men,  who  have  been  fairly  convicted  of  deism,  on  evidence 
which  would  satisfy  any  jury  of  twelve  honest  men ;  and  who  in  fact,  have  openly 
declared  in  the   face  of  the  public,   that  they,   and  their  sect  do  absolutely  reject 

16 


1^0  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

God's  word,  as  ^'utterly  defective,'"  and  utterly  insufficient  to  he  the  rule  of  faitfi,'^'*-» 
are  not  to  be  listened  to,  in  discussions  about  christian  creeds,  and  articles  of  faith.< 
Is  it  not  sheer  hypocrisy  ?  "  And  of  all  the  cantings  of  this  canting  world,  the  cant 
of  hypocrisy  is  the  worst."  And  of  all  the  hypocrites,  the  most  insufferable  are  these 
two  classes ; — namely, — the  solemn  drunkard,  on  the  alehouse  bench ;  and  the  infidel 
priest  demurely  discusssing  creeds,  and  the  pure  doctrines  of  our  holy  religion ! 

The  highly  complimentary  truth  which  closes  your  last  letter,  would  have  been 
duly  appreciated  by  me,  had  it  not  been  wrung  from  you  by  constraint.  Here  the 
priests  of  Rome  have  been,  in  one  respect,  like  the  fair  sex ; — pardon  me,  ladies,  for 
jDlacing  you,  even  in  supposition,  in  the  company  of  the  priesthood  of  Rome,  with 
whom,  we  are  all  aware,  no  virtuous  lady  can  associate  for  one  moment.  But  in  the 
fair  one's  letter,  one  can  never  arrive  at  her  real  feelings  and  meaning,  until  he  comes 
to  the  postscript.  There,  every  thing  is  wrapt  up  in  the  last  sentence.  Even  so, 
after  all  the  priests'  vituperation,  and  scandal,  and  personalities,  the  truth  is  evolved 
in  their  last  sentence, — namely, — "We  leave  him  alone,"  that  is  their  opponent — 
'•in  his  glory!"  There  are,  I  assure  you,  few  polemics  who  can  boast  of  receiving 
such  a  compliment  as  this  from  their  antagonists ; 

It  means, — "We  abandon  to  him  the  whole  cause,  in  despair!  "  ?Fe  leave  him 
alone  in  his  glory  !  Our  Roman  catholic  rule  is  utterly  untenable !  We  abandon 
the  defence !  The  heretic's  ten  arguments  have  fairly  capsized  us !  They  have 
crushed  our  rule !  And  the  one  score  and  five  arguments  against  Holy  Mother's 
"idolatry,"  and  her  "superstition,"  and  her  "fanaticism,"  as  he  calls  them,  have 
annihilated  our  hopes.  They  are  tremendous!  Conscious  innocence  can  withstand 
any  thing  !  But  a  guilty  conscience  makes  one  feel  one's  self  annihilated!  Holy 
Mother's  "  antiquity,"  who  can  defend,  when  we  have  a  conviction  in  our  consciences, 
that  all  our  leading  tenets  and  rites  were,  in  sober  truth,  recently  invented  by  our 
popes  and  the  priesthood.  Then  these  treacherous  fathers, — and  that  fatal  Want  of 
the  unanimous  consent !  These  monks  of  the  dark  age  have  much  to  answer  for! 
When  they  did  alter,  erase  and  add,  why  did  they  not  do  their  job  thoroughly,  like 
honest  sons  of  "Holy  Mother?"  They  have  done  their  work  in  an  imperfect  and 
slovenly  manner.  They  have  left,  on  their  old  pages,  enough  yet  to  paralyze  us ! 
And  to  crown  the  mischief,  these  books  of  our  fathers,  have  got  into  the  hands  of  the 
heretics.  And,  only  think,  our  heretic  in  his  terrible  Letter  VHI.,  has  let  the  fatal 
secret  out  from  these — our  own  hooks!  Our  plea  of  " catholicity"  is  gone, — unless 
we  oppose  stout  denials  to  our  own  standard  writers !  The  plague  rest — as  our 
Shakespear  says,  on  this  cunning,  reading,  thinking  ^'•American  puhlic,''"' — and  this 
'■'religious  public'^  of  his  !  What  a  serious  mistake  we  have  fallen  into!  We  have 
learned, — but  it  is  too  late,  that  we  are  not  in  Spain,  and  the  blessed  South  of  Ireland  ! 
We  had  hoped  to  make  this  "American  public"  believe  that  particular  was  general; 
that  Rome  and  our  church,  were  the  universal  world!  Our  succession  is  ridiculed 
too  !  Those  schisms,  and  those  diabolical  popes,  set  forth  in  all  their  horrid  garnish- 
ment, will  kill  us  outright !  That  Baronius,  that  Labbeus,  and  Binius,  and  Bruys, 
and  Du  Cange,  and  Dupin,  and  the  rest  of  our  slovenly,  truth  betraying  writers,  can 
never  escape  purgatory,  for  their  wanton  crime  of  affording  materials  to  the  heretics ! ! 
Why  did  our  own  sons  lift  the  veil  off  "  Holy  Mother !" 

Alas !  for  the  stately  bark  of  St.  Peter !  It  has  been  shipwrecked  in  Europe.  And 
•our  last  hopes  were  in  bringing  these  United  States  under  our  grasp,  and  the  holy  des- 
potism,—the  salutary  despotism  of  Rome,  and  the  Inquisition !     We  were  working 


ROMAN   CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  171 

^ur  way  secretly  and  slyly.  We  had  got  many  Protestants, — "  silly  fools,"  we  admit, 
who  actually  sent  their  daughters  into  our  nunneries,  and  their  sons  to  our  pure  and 
holy  seminaries  of  Jesuitism,  to  be  educated !  !  And  carefully  and  successfully  did 
we  train  them:  and  return  them  into  the  bosom  of  their  heretical  parents;  deeply 
imbued  with  pure  monarchy  and  Romanism ;  and  faithful  to  the  catholic  Jesuits'  cause  ! ! 
But  alas!  the  cunning  "American  public"  is  now  waked  up!  And  our  hopes  are 
blasted  !  The  curse  of  St.  Patrick,  as  Shakespear  says,  be  on  these  discussions!  It 
is  true,  we  knew  the  wholesome  rule  of  our  Jesuit  Busseus:  "Avoid,  if  you  can,  all 
controversy  on  the  articles  of  faith,  with  heretics!"  We  did  act  on  this  all  along! 
But  these  obstinate  heretics  would  not  be  way-laid.  They  plunged  right  onward  ; 
and  they  got  in  spite  of  us,  into  our  citadel, — into  the  very  chambers  of  our  imagery  ! 
The  veil  so  carefully  thrown  over  all  our  weak  and  deformed  parts,  has  been  most 
unceremoniously  stript  off.  And  St.  Patrick,  as  Shakespear  says,  only  knows  what 
is  to  be  the  end  of  these  things!  Our  blessings  on  this  officious,  meddling  "Ameri- 
can pubhc"  of  his  !  We  had  once  thought  that  we  could  easily  train,  by  our  Jesuit 
legions  swarming  over  the  land,  the  people  of  this  same  American  republic  !  Our 
doctrines,  our  rites,  and  church  government,  sustained  by  a  foreign  power,  cannot 
thrive, — they  cannot  even  live  in  a  Republic  !  But  when  we  shall  receive  the  power, 
we  shall  teach  these  stiff  headed  Republicans  another  lesson.  Spain,  Austria  and 
Italy  shall  be  the  fair  model  of  a  new  and  renovated  government !  But  the  maledic- 
tions of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  as  our  Shakespear  says,  be  on  those  ill  advised  dis- 
cussions !  Our  secret  plans,  from  our  head  quarters  in  Europe,  have  been  suddenly 
divulged,  before  they  had  ripened  into  perfection!  Our  benisons  on  this  "reading 
and  thinking"  generation!  Ten  thousand  anathemas  on  this  "light and  knowledge," 
as  the  heretics  call  it.  They  paralyze  us ;  they  strike  us  bhnd,  as  do  the  sun  beams 
the  owl  of  the  forest!" 

Such,  gentlemen,  are  the  frank  admissions  conveyed  in  the  last  sentence,  and  part- 
ing scrap  of  poetry,  of  your  last  letter.  We  thank  you  for  the  concessions :  we  shall 
give  wings  to  them  ! 

But,  finally,  permit  me  to  grace  your  retreat  with  an  appropriate  historical  expo- 
sition of  your  favorite  text  at  the  head  of  my  letter.  It  was  not  foi  nothing  that  you 
quoted  it  so  often,  and  so  apropos.  "  Coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before !"  You 
had  a  presentiment  of  this  ill  fated  retreat:  and  it  was  impossible  that  you  could 
forget  the  retreat  of  the  great  personages,  alluded  to,  in  the  premonitory  passage  of 
the  prophet. 

These  were  Senacherib,  the  despot  of  Assyria  :  with  his  two  mischief-making  sons, 
Adramelech  and  Sharezer ;  who  closed  the  chapter  of  their  father's  accidents,  in  a 
bloody  tragedy.  These,  with  their  servant,  Rabshakeh,  came  up  to  invade  the  fair 
land  of  Judah,  and  destroy  Mount  Zion.  The  king  of  Assyria  was  but  another  narne 
for  a  cruel /oreififn  despotism,  exercised  over  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men.  You  know 
who  is  the  antitype  of  this  unenviable  character.  The  two  sons  of  that  prince,  children 
of  Belial,  may  represent  the  two  men  who  are  the  right  and  left  hands  of  the  symbol 
of  foreign  despotism, — men,  who,  Hke  these  sons,  would  kill  their  sovereign  !  And 
Rabshakeh  was  a  vain,  blustering,  swaggering,  wine-bibber  ;  much  given  to  gascon- 
ade ;  a  captain  of  the  Assyrian  host ;  fighting  against  Zion,  and  against  the  Most 
High ;  much  given  to  speak  and  write  blasphemy  in  the  ears,  and  before  the  eyes,  of 
the  people  :  much  given  to  taunt  "the  Hebrew  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  prefer  the 
Babylonian  traditions,  and  oracles  of  the  heathens,  to  the  pure  and  holy  word  of  God. 


172  ROMAJf    CATHOLIC    CONTHOVERST. 

Moreover,  for  some  misdemeanor  or  other,  by  the  law  of  his  despotic  prince,  he  wa» 
doomed  never  to  marry,  nor  to  be  received  into  the  company  of  "  virtuous  ladies.'* 
Hence  he  exercised  himself  much  in  the  language  of  Ashdod,  in  speaking  evil  of  all 
*'  the  virtuous  of  the  sex."     For  he  did, — 

"Like  Moses  praise  and  bless, 
The  Canaan  which  he  never  could  possess." 

But  haste  we  to  the  sequel — Never  was  defeat  more  public  and  more  complete, 
than  that  of  our  Assyrians!  Never  was  a  Retreat  of  any  vain  glorious  foemen 
covered  with  more  infamy  than  was  that  of  the  despot,  his  two  sons,  and  Rabshakeh ! 
Not  one  strong  hold  of  Israel  could  they  approach  with  a  hand  of  harm !  Not  one 
arrow  took  effect  in  any  one  fortress  of  Zion.  They  missed  their  aim :  they  lost  their 
cause :  they  lost  their  honor ,  they  lost  their  whole  host !  The  Mighty  God  of  Zion 
breathed  on  them  in  the  burning  wrath  of  his  Samiel, — and  lo!  they  were  all  dead 
men !  The  few  struggling  partizans,  made  their  Retreat,  in  death  like  silence,  and 
with  unutterable  confusion.     God  fights  against  all  anti-christian  powers ! 

Then,  mark  the  end  of  the  despot.  The  hands  of  those  whom  he  trained  up  to 
wickedness,  did  overthrow  him  !  As  for  Rabshakeh ; — as  you  are  admirers  of  tradi- 
tion, let  us  seek  his  fate  in  the  Misnah,  and  the  Gemara  of  the  Talmud.  It  is  very 
obscure ;  but  the  most  feasible  may  be  this : — being  a  great  patron  of  human  igno- 
rance, he  kept  the  people  as  blind  and  ignorant  as  possible.  He  hated  reading  and 
writing :  it  only  made  people  averse,  he  would  say,  from  the  patient  bearing  of  the 
yoke  of  priestcraft  and  despotism !  He  took  care  to  burn  every  copy  of  the  book  of 
the  law,  that  he  conld  find  in  the  people's  houses.  Bui  even  the  longest  chain  has  an 
end.  The  tide  of  popular  fury  turned  on  him ;  and  banished  him  into  some  eremite's 
cell,  to  lead  a  life  of  penance  and  unalloyed  misery.  And  he  died  as  he  fived,  the 
enemy  of  God,  the  curse  of  civil  society,  and  the  execration  of  all  enlightened  people  ! 
His  bleached  bones  were  found  by  some  humane  shepherd,  who  placed  them  under 
a  large  rock,  upon  which,  in  process  of  time,  some  one  wrote  an  epitaph.  This  epi- 
taph probably  found  its  way  into  the  Gemara :  and  some  amateurs  having  translated 
it,— the  famous  Robert  Burns  added  the  charms  of  a  poetic  version  to  it,  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner : — 

"  Beneatli  these  rugged  stones 
Lie  old  Rabshakeh's  bones ; 
O  death  !  it's  my  opinion, 
You  ne'er  took  such 
Ablatherin'  bitch, 
Into  your  dark  dominion  ! !" 

Yours  very  truly,  and  respectfully. 
W.  C.  Brownlee 

Notice.— The  priests  having  finally  retreated,  and  having  entirely  given  up  their 
cause,  in  this  discussion  it  would  be  as  discreditable  to  address  anymore  letters  to  them, 
as  it  would  be  in  a  soldier,  who  keeps  in  his  ranks,  to  consort,  or  correspond  with 
cowards  and  deserters.  I  shall  claim  the  continued  and  kind  indulgence  of  the  christ- 
ian community  while  I  go  on  in  the  regular  discussion,  in  Letters  addressed  to  the 
Members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church :  retaining  my  right,  however,  to  return  to 
the  charge,  should  the  Priests  come  out  with  "more  last  words." 

New  York,  August  13, 1833.  W.  C.  B. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  173 

A.- 

*..  PART    II. 

LETTER  I. 

TO    THE   MEMBERS  OF    THE    R03IAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

■■'  There  is  not  such  a  great  difference  between  our  church,  and  the  Protestant,  that  you 
should  leave  us," — said  a  priest  to  a  young  convert  to  Christianity. — "  There  is  onlv  this  dif- 
ference between  us,"  replied  the  youth: — "  Tiie  Roman  catholics  worship  the  god  whom 
the  priest  creates  out  of  the  wafer;  we  worship  the  God  who  creates  the  priest." — Malan. 

Fellow  Citizens: — The  priests  having  left  the  field  clear,  and  undisturbed  to  us,  I 
could  think  of  no  other  to  whom  I  should  address  myself,  than  to  you.  And  I  beg 
leave  to  do  it,  with  great  respect,  and  christian  salutations.  It  can  neither  be  to  your 
interest,  nor  to  mine,  to  be  deceived  in  this  solemn  matter.  And  God  knows  I  wish 
your  salvation  as  well  as  my  own.  Permit  me,  therefore,  to  present  myself  respect- 
fully before  you.  And  until  we  become  better  acquainted,  let  me  introduce  myself 
with  a  pleasant  parable  of  olden  times. 

Once  upon  a  time,  the  good  St.  Peter  was  sitting,  in  the  cool  of  the  morning,  under 
a  rich  clustering  vine,  in  the  lovely  green  vale  of  JehosajDhat :  and  in  earnest  discourse 
with  a  friend.  The  holy  Apostle,  and  he,  had  retired  from  the  dust  and  heat  of  Jeru- 
salem ;  and  they  were  discussing  an  important  question,  in  a  grave  and  solemn  man- 
ner, befitting  such  men.  The  apostle's  friend  was  a  chief  priest :  a  noted  man ;  and 
a  bosom  friend  to  Nicodemus.  His  faith  had  been  shaken  in  the  Jewish  system ;  and 
he  was  devoutly  inquiring  how  he  should  arrive  fully  at  the  truth,  and  be  saved.  He 
had  discovered  with  no  small  degree  of  alarm,  that  truth  was  no  longer  in  the  Jewish 
system,  and  church.  The  pure  word  of  God,  the  Jewish  doctors  had  impiously  dis- 
placed; and  rendered  void  by  the  fatal  traditions  of  their  fathers.  The  pure  system 
of  Moses  was  no  longer  honored  and  received  by  them  :  and,  with  a  singular  incon- 
sistency, what  was  abolished  in  the  ceremonial  law,  they  now  clung  to  with  great  ob- 
stinacy. The  high  priest,  and  his  associates  in  despotism,  had  usurped  power  over 
the  souls,  and  consciences  of  men :  they  set  no  bounds  to  their  avarice,  pride,  and  , 
luxury.  They  traded  "in  the  souls  of  men:"  they  even  professed  to  open  lieaven  ; 
and  shut  the  gates  of  hell,  at  the  ecclesiastical  chancery  prices  !  They  sold  pardons, 
and  permissions  to  sin,  at  all  rates ;  from  Judas's  sum  of  30  shekels,  up  to  the  talent 
of  silver,  and  the  lordly  talent  of  gold ! 

"The  temple  is  converted  into  a  house  of  merchandize — my  dear  Peter,"  said  the 
chief  priest,  as  he  fanned  his  burning  brow  with  his  snow  white  turban, — "In  the 
midst  of  this  universal  corruption,  the  kingdom  of  God  I  cannot  find.  Now,  in  as 
much  as  he  declared  to  our  father  x\braham,  that  his  church  should  never  fail,  and 
repeated  it  to  David,  and  all  the  prophets ;  and  as  it  would  be  mockery  to  look  for  it 
amid  the  universal  corruptions  of  our  high  priest,  and  our  chief  priests  and  rulers  of 
the  synagogue; — it  must  be  found  somewhere  else.  Is  it  to  be  found  in  the  ntw,  up* 
start,  christian  church,  just  organized :  or  is  it  not  to  be  found  even  there  V 


174  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

St.  Peter  opened  up  to  him  the  scriptures,  and  went  on,  comparing  the  Old  Testa- 
ment doctrine,  with  those  of  Christ,  in  order  to  show  him  that  this  neiv,  reformed^ 
upstart  church, — the  christian  church  alone,  held  the  whole  and  only  genuine  truths  of 
God.  And  he  was  patiently  bringing  home  to  his  heart,  with  many  prayers,  these 
apostolical  instructions :  and  instructing  him  in  the  right  way  of  the  Lord  God  of  his 
fathers ;  while  he  kept  a  strict  eye  on  a  singular,  suspicious,  and  ill-looking  stranger, 
who  had  entered  the  arbor ;  and  had  placed  himself  not  far  from  them.  He  was  be- 
decked in  a  fantastic  dress,  of  many  colors,  neither  exactly  Jewish,  nor  altogether 
Gentile  in  its  shape :  and  there  was  a  wildness  in  his  looks,  and  antic  gestures, 
which  indicated  the  phrenzy  of  a  madman ;  or,  to  say  the  least,  the  air  of  a  designing 
knave  I 

St.  Peter  went  on,  discoursing  of  the  Trinity,  the  incarnation,  the  atonement ;  faith, 
and  repentance;  and  the  justification  of  a  sinner  by  faith  in  Christ,  without  the  deeds 
of  the  law ;  and  thence  the  absolute  necessity  of  good  works,  and  a  holy  life.  He 
was  very  particular  in  showing  him  that  God  only  is  the  supreme  Lord  of  the  con- 
science :  that  no  human  or  ghostly  jjower  on  earth,  should  be  permitted  by  any  who 
calls  himself  a  man,  and  not  a  dumb  brute,  to  usurp  power  over  the  conscience  ;  or 
dictate  a  form  of  religion  to  it.  "Think,  read,  judge,  decide  for  yourself.  None  of  the 
Jewish  priests,  nor  any  priest  under  these  heavens,  can  dare  to  prescribe  to  your  con- 
science. Go  to  God's  law,  and  word,  and  his  inspired  apostles.  God  speaks: 
listen  ;  obe}'^ ;  and  count  that  man  an  emissary  of  the  devil,  fresh  from  the  burning 
lake,  who  would  dare  to  lord  it  over  your  conscience ;  or  offer  to  appease  God  for  you ; 
or  to  pardon  your  sins  for  a  few  Jerusalem  coppers!  He  is  the  arch  impostor, — the 
antichrist;  of  which  our  beloved  brother  John  will  tell  you  more  fully." 

Here  the  singular  stranger  grew  so  impatient,  that  he  could  no  longer  contain  him- 
self: and  he  rudely  cut  short  the  apostle's  discourse,  by  abruptly  crying  out, — "Do 
you  call  me  the  impostor  and  the  antichrist?"  Then  addressing  himself  to  the  chief 
priest,  for  he  was  evidently  a  stranger  to  St.  Peter, — he  besought  him  not  to  give  heed 
to  one  word  uttered  by  that  "  hoary  headed  deceiver  ;"  for  the  holy  order  of  the  high 
priest,  and  the  chief  priests  have  the  entire  keeping  of  men's  consciences.  And  they 
negotiate  with  heaven  the  whole  of  man's  salvation  for  a  moderate  consideration. — 
But  I  am  forgeting  himself.  To  give  divine  efficacy  to  my  words,  and  confound  all 
heretics,  I  must  have  in  my  soul  the  intention ;  and  on  my  body  the  consecrated  apos- 
tolical raiment, — such  as  St.  Peter  the  prince  and  pope :  were  he  present, — would 
laud  and  bless."     And  upon  that  he  applied  himself  to  the  work. 

He  rose  up  and  made  certain  genuflections,  and  prostrations  to  the  east  and  west : 
he  then  decked  himself  out  in  party-colored  patches  and  rags,  of  red,  purple,  and 
white,  and  green  ;  and  putting  on  a  thing  resembling  three  crowns,  on  his  head  ;  he 
went  to  an  adjoining  thicket,  and  cut  a  tall  rod  the  top  of  which  he  twisted  into  a 
shepherd's  crook.  And  coming  gravely  up ;  he  stood  with  a  solemn,  demure,  half 
crying  countenance,  for  a  few  moments ;  then  whispered  "Now  1  have  got  the  unction 
of  holy  intention ;  now  for  the  grace  procuring  gestures,  and  genuflections."  And 
with  that  he  applied  himself  gravely  to  a  succession  of  bodily  exercises,  forty-Jive  in 
number;  sometimes  he  bowed:  then  he  kneeled:  then  he  elevated  his  arms  aloft. 
And  having  counted  his  forty -fifth,  he  sat  down  quite  out  of  breath.  "  Now,"  said 
he,  "  what  I  am  going  to  say,  no  one  dare  gainsay,  under  peril  of  salutary  cold 
steel,  and  the  hotfre  ; — to  wit,  heading  and  burning  !  This  crown,  the  emblem  of 
power,  and  this  sceptre,  the  symbol  of  pastoral  qualification  and  care,  God  Almighty 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  175 

made  w-ith  his  own  hands  ;  and  with  his  own  hands,  he  placed  them  on  my  head,  and 
in  these  hands!" 

The  apostle  would  have  interrupted  him : — but  he  silenced  him  with  an  outrageous 
clamor;  and  he  went  on,  engrossing-  the  whole  conversation  himself.  "I  am  God's 
vice-god,  upon  earth  :  I  am  supreme:  by  me  kings  and  priests  reign  and  act :  I  am 
the  lord  of  the  liuman  conscience  :  God  has  put  this  ghostly  power  in  my  unworthy 
hands,  who  am  a  servant  of  servants." — And  while  the  words  of  humility  were  on 
his  lips,  he  tossed  his  sceptre :  and  w^aved  his  lordly  triple  crown  on  high. — Then  he 
went  on: — "  The  revelation  which  God  has  given  to  the  Hebrews  and  the  Christians, 
derives  all  its  authority  and  all  its  evidence  from  me  :  it  is  the  word  of  God  if  I  say  it : 
it  is  not,  if  I  say  nay  :  I  add  to  it,  and  I  take  away ;  and  who  shall  set  bounds  to  this 
spiritual  sceptre  !  I  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death  !  I  open  heaven  :  and  I 
open  hell!  I  shut  them  both  as  I  will!  Through  me  alone,  God  speaks  !  Through 
me  alone,  men  shall  apply  to  God.  I  am  on  earth,  what  the  Almighty  is  in  heaven ! 
Hence  I  have  pc  vf  r  to  alter  what  Christ  did  establish:  I  can  add  to  his  doctrines, 
when  it  can  be  made  profitable  to  bring  in  much  gold.  lean  add  as  many  sacra- 
ments as  I  please  to  his  humble  and  plain  two.  For  this  is  also  profitable  •, — if  not 
for  doctrine, — at  least  for  establishing  my  supreme  power  over  the  souls  of  my  slaves, 
and  minions.  And  ihe^^  also  bring  much  silver  and  gold  lo  our  coffers.  Then  gold 
brings  jnight :  and  might,  according  to  sound  ghoslly  policy,  always  makes  right! 
These  are  the  maxims  of  my  court !" 

Here  the  ^vrath  ef  St.  Peter  was  kindled  fiercely  against  him.  He  had  hitherto 
set  him  down  in  his  own  mind,  as  stark  mad  ;  and  he  had  viewed  him  with  pity.  But 
as  he  went  on  in  detail,  he  saw  that  he  was  a  knave,  possessed  w4th  a  legion  of  raving 
devils!  ''Who  is  he?"  said  he  to  his  host.  "Verily  Iknow^him  not;" — said  the 
horror  stricken  chief  priest:  I  took  him  at  first,  for  some  of  your  friends:  then  in  my 
mind,  I  thought  him  a  poor  demoniac,  humbly  following  in  order  to  get  the  devil  cast 
out  of  himself:  he  frequently,  I  thought,  mentioned  your  name  and  your  authority. 
I  suspect  that  he  was  a  noted  companion  of  Judas  Iscariot !"  "  Who  are  you?  AVho 
sent  you,  sirrah  ?"  cried  St.  Peter,  addressing  him  in  terms  of  strong  indignation  ; 
and  unsubduable  zeal  for  God's  glory. 

"  Who  am  I  ?"  replied  he  slowly  and  solemnly ; — "  I  am  the  spouse  of  the  church ; 
and  the  church  is  my  chaste  and  beautiful  spouse. — God's  vicegerent,  and  the  infalli- 
ble vicar  of  Christ :  I  come  from  holy  St.  Peter  the  prince  of  the  apostles." 

"Your  proof,  sirrah!"  said  Peter.  "  There  is  my  ])roof!"  said  he  gi-avely.  And 
he  held  out  a  roll  of  parchment :  "  I  certify  this  roll  to  be  the  true  and  genuine  roll, 
and  deed  of  right  and  power,  conveyed  to  me,  through  lord  j)ope  St.  Peter  from 
God  !" 

"Very  well,  sir  impostor:"  said  Peter; — "you  certify  for  that  roWs  authenticity  : 
then  pray,  who  certifies  for  you?'"  "  WTiy  look  ye  here, — my  pity  on  your  weak- 
ness, old  man  ; — only  inspect  this  roll ;  and  it  will  tell  all  about  me ;  and  fully  certify 
that  I  am  the  only  legal  claimant." 

"  And  what  then,  sir  knave,  will  you  do,  if  we  ridicule  this  ludicrous  reasoning  in 
a  circle?"  said  Peter.  "  Why,  I'll  tell  thee,  hoary  headed  doubter, — if  any  one  ex- 
presses a  doubt, — I  have  the  sword,  the  axe,  the  fire,  and  the  stake !  like  the  sword  of 
earthly  kings,  this  is  my  holy  spirhual  weapon:  my  ultima  ratio!  my  unanswerable 
argument!" 

"What  is  your  object,"  replied  St.  Peter  ; — "for  you  are  a  creature  I  never  to  my 


176  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONtROVERST. 

knowledge  saw  before, — is  it  your  object  to  save  men's  souls  ?'*  "  That  is  a  secondary 
object."  "  What  is  your  primary  object  then  ?  You  may  suppose  me  to  be  your  St. 
Peter, — and  tell  me."  "You  St.  Peter! — you  a  plain  fisherman,  St.  Peter! — why 
St.  Peter  wore  his  red,  and  purple,  and  fine  white  robes,  and  his  golden  mitre  I 
Christ  made  him  prince  of  the  apostolical  college!"  "Thou  art  stark  mad,  I  tell 
thee,"  said  St.  Peter, — "  but  go  on :  dost  thou  set  up  thy  kingdom  solely  to  save  men?" 
"  Yes,  I  save  them  in  the  way  of  making  a  good  job  of  it."  "  But,  how  ?  I  pray  thee, 
go  on." 

"Why  heaven  is  a  great  way  off;  and  the  way  is  very  steep;  and  my  flock  are 
not  very  steady,  or  moral,  sometimes: — "Very  well,"  said  St.  Peter, — "you  lead 
them  to  the  fountain  of  the  Redeemer's  blood,  I  hope."  "  It  is  far  easier,  I  tell  thee, 
ignorant  man,  to  lead  them  to  the  basin  of  holy  tvater.^^  "  Holy  water  !"  cried  St. 
Peter; — "I  do  not  know  that  thing:  and  never  heard  of  it  before:  but  do  you  not 
teach  the  holy  atonement  to  be  the  only  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  man."  "  No,  no  ;  we 
are  inventing  the  thing  called  the  mass,  though  it  will  take  centuries  to  get  men  so 
well  taught,  as  to  leave  to  me  all  the  right  of  thinking  for  them ;  and  then  take  my 
bare  word  for  every  thing :  to  call  black,  white,  and  the  devil,  Christ,  if  I  only  say  it !" 
"  The  mass!''''  said  St.  Peter : — "that  is  perfectly  neic  to  me :  the  Master  never  said  a 
word  of  it:  he  appointed  the  Holy  Supper,  to  commemorate  his  death,  and  his  one, 
real,  and  perfect  atonement." 

"You  know  nothing  at  all :"  cried  the  wild  man, — "  We  need  not  the  atonement  of 
Christ ;  ive  offer  up  in  the  mass,  daily,  a  sacrifice  for  the  quick  and  the  dead,  to  ap- 
pease God!"  "Hold,  in  silence,  thy  blaspheming  lips,"  cried  St.  Peter;  "thou 
must  be  the  Antichrist  I  But  what  said  you  about  getting  3'our  people  near  to  the  far 
distant  heaven?  "Why,  we  make  a  sacrifice  for  them ;  and  wiiat  is  defective  in  that 
we  make  up  by  putting  the  deceased  souls  into  purgatory,  and  there,  a  smart  burning 
of  well  applied  flames,  consumes  in  a  salutary  manner,  all  their  sins,  aud  follies." 
"  Well,  that,  we  know,  is  taken  from  the  abominable  heathen; — but  you  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  it  has  any  thing  to  do  with  us.  Christians  ?  I  never  taught  it :  and 
the  Master  never  spoke  of  it :  this  he  said, — '  The  blood  of  Jesus  washes  all  sins 
away.'  That  is  God's  only  purgatory  that  I  ever  heard  of:  for  there  is  no  other 
Savior  than  Jesus.  "But  what  get  you  for  all  this? — Are  your  holy  water  and 
masses,  and  purgatoiy  a  free  job  ?" 

"Oh!  no:  we  save  souls  in  the  way  of  making  gold  and  silver,  and  building  up 
our  power !  If  we  condescend  to  spare  the  time  from  our  luxuries  and  pleasures,  souls 
should  be  very  thankful ;  and  pay  their  fees  wdth  less  grumbling!"  "And  as  you 
have  added  five  new  sacraments,"  said  St.  Peter; — "do  you  bestow  grace  through 
them,  free  to  all,  and  gratis  /"  "  Oh  !  no :  there  is  no  divine  efficacy  in  one  of  them, 
unless  the  church's  dues  be  paid:  it  is  the  church's  dues :  it  is  St.  Peter's  pence P' 
"  So,  then  this  marvellous  and  newly  invented  system  is  all  adapted  to  make  gain — 
these  shepherds  shear  the  sheep,  and  flay  them,  and  take  all  the  milk  to  themselves! 
I  thought  that  our  Master  had  said, — '  Ho !  every  one  that  thirstetb,  come,  diink  : 
come  without  money  and  without  price,'  God's  word  says  this."  "  That  may  be," 
said  the  demon,  "but  times  shall  be  changed  :  these  were  Christ's  laws:  but  I  speak 
now  of  owr  holiness's  laws."  "  Why  the  Master  had  his  children  mainly  among  the 
poor;"  said  St,  Peter;  '  and  to  the  poor  is  the  gospel  preached.'"  "No,  no;  our 
infallibles  declare  that  the  rich  can  bu}'  pardons  for  any  space, — limited  only  by  the 
limit  of  money,  where  that  stops  short,  reprobation  begins !    Know  ye  not  that  the 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC   CONTROVERST.  illf 

Streets  of  Heaven  are  paved  with  gold.  As  we  have  the  laying  out  of  the  city ;  and 
of  course  all  the  paving,  how  can  we  have  paving  of  gold  ready,  in  every  street, 
unless  the  people  give  us  their  gold!'''' 

"Marvellously  said:"  whispered  St.  Peter, — "now  do  I  see  whither  we  have  got: 
but  repeat  what  thou  saidst  about  a  certain  Saint  Peter:''  "Why  St.  Peter  was  the 
prince  of  the  apostles,  infallible,  and" — "  ah  !"  cried  the  apostle  interrupting  him, 
"  where  gottest  thou  that  novelty  : — ay!  prince  he  must  have  been,  because  he  was 
a  blundering,  forward  man:  infallible,  too,"  added  the  humble  apostle  with  deep  sor- 
row ; "  they  have  got  me  to  be  what  I  never  heard  of  from  the  Master, — infallihhf 

verily  !  Ah !  this  mockery  is  offered  because  I  did  deny  my  Lord !  I  am  humbled 
and  mortified,"  continued  he;  "they  call  me  infallible  and  prince!  I  suppose  be- 
cause Paul  sternly  rebuked  me,  and  showed  himself  justl}^  my  superior !  But  go  on,"^ 
added  he  aloud  :  "  After  this  ebulhtion  what  shall  we  hear  next,  I  wonder?"  "  Why 
we  select  St.  Peter  to  be  the  foundation  of  our  church."  "The  blessed  Master  keep 
me  out  of  such  a  church,  with  such  a  rotten  foundation" — exclaimed  St.  Peter  with 
holy  indio-nation.  "  Give  me,  O  my  blessed  God,  give  me  grace  to  belong  to  that 
church  that  is  built  on  the  Rock  of  eternity,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ!  That  is  the 
Christian  church," — cried  St.  Peter.  "And  that  is  the  only,  pure,  and  immutable 
church,  which  I  also  long  to  be  a  member  of," — said  the  pious  chief  priest ;  but  go 
on;  let  us  hear  all!" 

"You  know  nothing,"—cried  the  Demoniac  in  reply—"  did  I  not  lay  hold  o^holy 
intention  ?  Do  I  not  stand  up  in  my  sanctified  robes  ?  Am  I  not,  therefore,  infal- 
lible ?  If  you  doubt,  you  shall  be  damned,  by  me  !  I  will  cast  you  into  purgatory ; 
and  none  of  my  holy  priests  shall  pray  you  out — unless  for  a  ruinous  sum  from  your 
heirs ! 

Here  the  apostle,  eyeing  the  motley  buffoon  from  head  to  foot,  burst  out  into  a  loud 
laughter  :  but,  suddenly  recollecting  himself  he  said' — "I  am  determined  to  hear  the 
possessed  mad  man  out :  go  on :  I  will  not  interrupt  thy  extravagance :  the  pagan 
kings  claim  power  over  sun,  moon,  and  stars ;  but  thou  art  "  the  wild  beast  whose  tail 
sweeps  the  third  part  of  the  stars  from  heaven  :"  and  with  thy  paws  thou  throwest 
men  into  sheol !     Go  on,  I  pray  thee." 

"Having  laid  my  foundation  of  empire  on  St.  Peter,  I  shall  go  forth  to  subdue  all 
nations,  kingdoms,  tongues,  and  countries.  My  power  extends  to  all  the  world,  and 
all  heaven,  and  all  hell !" 

Here  the  apostle  sprang  up  from  his  seat;  he  could  not  stand  it.  "  Nay,  then.  Sir 
Gascon,  have  done,  at  last.  I  see  who  thou  art.  Our  sovereign  and  blessed  Master 
Jesus  Christ,  warned  us  of  the  great  Western  maniac  prince,  who  would  be  intoxicated 
with  the  blood  of  the  saints.  The  system  was  conceived  and  plotted  in  hell:  and 
thou  art  the  demon  let  loose  for  a  season ;  and  charged  with  the  execution  of  it ! 
Already,  I  see,  art  thou  wandering  to  and  fro  through  the  earth,  and  hatching  thy 
diabolical  plots.  Now,  hear  me,  I  am  St.  Peter !  and  had  not  the  Master  drawn  the 
veil  over  thy  mind,  thou  mightest  have  known  me."  Then,  by  a  holy  impulse,  he 
laid  the  glorious  system  of  the  truth  of  Christ,  as  opposed  to  the  system  of  Antichrist^ 
before  the  vigorous  intellect  of  the  mischievous  demon  :  it  shone  brilliantly  as  a 
polished  steel  mirror  of  the  daughters  of  Judah :  the  truth  beamed  from  it  with  unut- 
terable brightness,  and  flashed  over  his  guilty  conscience  and  heart. 

The  demon,  who  is  also  the  soul  and  spirit  of  Antichrist,  cast  his  small,  sunk,  and 
twinkling  eyes,  first,  on  St.  Peter,  with  fear  and  terror ;  and  then  on  all  the  objects 


178  ROMAN   CATHOIilC    CONTROVERSY. 

around  him,  exclaiming:  "  Art  thou  come  then,  to  betray,  in  thy  apostolical  writings, 
and  those  of  thy  associates,  the  secret  of  our  kingdom,  which  I  have  thoughtles&ly 
blabbed  out !  Art  thou  come  to  torment  me  and  mine  before  the  time  ?"  Then,  with 
a  hallow  scream,  he  fainted  away  under  the  beams  of  the  truth.  And  a  sweeping 
whirlwind  and  vivid  flashes  of  fire,  and  roaring  thunder,  the  symbol  of  heaven's  irre- 
sistible vengeance, — swept  him  away  down  the  vale,  into  the  Dead  Sea  ! 

Fellow  Citizns  : — I  need  not  stop  here  to  interpret  the  parable.     Your  own  good 
sense  will  lead  you  to  understand  it. 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  with  christian  salutations, 
yours  faithfully. 
August,  1833.  W.  C.  Brownlee. 


LETTER  II. 

TO    THE    MExMBERS   OF    THE    ROMAN   CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

*'  We  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ,  that  every  one  may  receive  the 
proper  things  of  the  body,  according  as  he  hath  done,  either  good  or  evil." — Douay  Test,  2 
Cor.  V.  10. 

Fellow  Citizens: — If  you  will  unite  cordially  with  St.  Peter,  in  the  wholesome 
doctrines  here  taught  by  him,  in  his  replies  to  the  evil  spirit  of  Antichrist,  then» 
assuredly,  you  and  I  shall  be  better  acquainted :  and  you  will  not  count  me  your 
enemy,  because  I  tell  you  the  truth. 

No  one  of  us,  in  this  "  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave,"  wishes  you  ill. 
No  one  of  us  ever  says,  "  ill-luck  to  you.''''  No  one  of  us  does  wish  you  to  forsake 
the  trv£.  religion  of  your  fathers.  They  are  designing  men,  and  impostors,  who  seek 
to  persuade  you  that  we  have  any  such  intention.  We  do  solemnly  assure  you  before 
God,  that  all  we  wish  and  beg  of  you  is  this; — that,  as  men,  as  immortal  beings,  who 
are  soon  to  stand  before  the  awful  throne  of  Almighty  God,  to  be  judged,  each  one 
for  himself — you  would  study  the  holy  scriptures  ;  and  draw  your  religion  out  of  God's 
word  alone.  It  is  God's  word.  God  speaks  to  you  and  to  us,  in  it :  it  is  not  obscure  : 
make  the  trial  and  you  will  see :  he  speaks  to  us  as  plainly  and  clearly,  as  does  a 
father  to  his  children  ! 

Break  the  chains  of  priestcraft  in  pieces,  and  be  free !  It  makes  you  poor, — who  are 
laboring  men :  it  keeps  you  in  abject  poverty,  and  unsufferable  bondage.  You  see 
the  highly  intelligent  and  learned  men  of  your  church  despising,  and  laughing  priest- 
craft to  scorn !  Do  the  well  informed  ever  go  to  the  abominable  confessional  of  a 
licentious  priest  ?  Would  the  genteel  and  well  informed  among  you  permit  their 
wives  and  their  daughters  to  go  to  hear  such  infamous  and  obscene  questions  put  to  them 
by  the  bloated  and  pestilential  lips  of  the  priests!  No,  never!  Resolve  to  be  free 
from  this  cruel  yoke.  Go  to  Almighty  God  alone  for  pardon :  go  and  confess  to  Him 
alone  :  he  asks  no  money  :  he  never  sent  any  priests  to  rob  you,  to  pay  for  pardons. 
Go  in  humble  faith,  to  the  only  Savior,  the  great  God,  our  Redeemer:  he  alone  can 
pardon.  It  is  impossible  that  any  thinking  and  reflecting  mind  can,  for  a  moment, 
believe  that  the  infinitely  holy  God,  would  commit  to  incontinent  wicked  priests,  the 
power  of  absolving  from  sin !  A  priest  rebuking  wickedness !  Behold  the  renovation 
of  Milton's  scene  of  "  Satan  reproving  and  chiding  sin  /'  Who  can  believe, — who  can 
foe  so  much  of  a  knave,  as  to  believe  and  teach  that  Almighty  God  who  commands 


ROMAN   CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  179 

you  '•  to  come,  without  money  and  without  price,"  would  send  a  priest  to  barter  in 
pardon,  and  sell  absolutions,  and  take  money  for  letting  souls  out  of  purgatory  ?  Re- 
solve at  length  to  rise  up  and  be  free  from  this  worst  of  paganism !  Break  the  cruel 
chains  of  priestcraft  from  around  your  immortal  and  noble  souls!  Resolve,  and 
declare,  and  appeal  to  heaven,  that  you  will,  that  you  shall  be  free,  like  all  other 
christians  around  you ! 

Can  any  one  of  your  families  be  said  to  enjoy  liberty  ;  and  mutual  confidence  in 
each  other,  when  a  ghostly  tyrant  establishes  such  an  espionage  over  you;  and 
employs  the  wife  to  watch  the  husband,  and  the  husband  the  wife?  Where  i& 
liberty  and  mutual  confidence,  and  family  peace  enjoyed,  when  all  the  members  of 
that  family,  are  constituted  spies  over  each  other,  and  carry  all  the  family  secrets  to 
the  intermeddhng  priest!  How  can  you,  in  one  instance,  trust  your  wife's  honor  to 
a  man  who  puts  the  most  loathsome  and  obscene  questions  to  her ;  and  does  it  to 
entice  her  affections  away  from  you  ?  How  can  you  answer  it  at  the  bar  of  God,  for 
allowing  a  modest  and  innocent  young  child  to  go  to  the  confessional ;  to  have  her 
mind,  and  body  poisoned,  and  polluted  by  a  priest,  at  whose  confessional,  I  do  pub- 
licly and  boldly  say,  no  pure  and  virtuous  woman  can  appear,  without  being  shocked: 
and  without  actually  suffering  the  loss  of  modesty  and  moral  character!  The  dark 
ages  have  rolled  away:  therefore,  no  sober  minded  man  in  our  republic  can  sink  to 
such  a  degradation  as  to  make  such  a  bargain  with  a  wretched  priest,  as  did  the  late 
duke  of  Brunswick,  who  made  his  bargain  and  paid  his  price  to  the  ''holy''  priest  to 
be  damned  in  his  stead,  if  he  should  happen  to  be  damned  for  his  apostacy  from  Christ 
to  Antichrist! 

I  am  perfectly  aware  that  in  purely  Roman  catholic  lands,  no  sentiment  is  more 
common  than  this,  that  the  priest  undertakes  <o  negotiate  the  whole  concern  of  salvation 
for  his  victims  !  I  implore  you  to  rise  from  this  state  of  infinite  degradation.  A  man 
who  can  think  and  act  as  the  Duke  did,  has  a  meanness  of  soul  that  is  immeasurably 
contemptible !  Nay,  he  cannot  be  a  believer  in  Christianity  !  Nay,  he  cannot  be  a 
believer  in  a  future  judgment,  or  rewards  and  punishments !  Nay,  he  is  not  even  a 
beUever  in  the  existence  of  God  !  Permit  yourselves  no  more  to  be  the  victims  of  an 
infidel  priesthood.  In  the  name  of  God  I  beseech  you,  remember  that  if  you  die  in 
your  sins,  after  following  the  wicked  priest,  God  will  condemn  you  both.  Every 
priest,  whose  conscience  is  not  absolutely  'seared  as  with  a  hot  iron,'  knows  that  he 
neither  will,  nor  can  take  your  place.  Bankrupt  and  beggared,  he  has  no  credit,— no 
i-nfluence  in  the  court  of  heaven.  His  own  damnation  is  deep  enough  :  and  he  can- 
not answer  for  you ! 

Open  your  eyes  to  the  infamous  imposture  of  purgatory,  practised  on  you  to  cheat 
you  out  of  your  money  !  As  certainly  as  God  is  Almighty  and  just,  and  holy,  so  cer- 
tainly is  there  no  such  place,  or  thing,  as  purgatory !  The  vile  fiction,  we  have  for- 
meriy  shown  you,  is  only  a  few  centuries  old.  Mark  the  imposition.  Dr.  Varela  has 
told  you  lately  in  a  newspaper,  that  it  is  the  doctrine  of  his  church,  that  no  man 
knows  who,  or  how  many,  of  your  departed  relatives  are  in  purgatory ! !  Now,  tell  me, 
I  beseech  you,  how  you  can  permit  yourselves,  or  your  wives,  to  be  robbed  of  your 
money,  in  order  to  bring  souls  out  of  it,  when  none  of  these  priests,  who  get  the  wages 
of  their  robbery,  can  even  tell  who  is  in  purgatory  !  Depend  on  it,  my  friends,  if 
their  masses,  and  their  prayers,  had  any— even  the  least  interest  and  favor  with  God, 
he  would  not  conceal  from  them  who,  and  how  many  of  those  are  in  the  fires,  for 
whom  they  pretend  to  pray. 


JgQ  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

This  is  not  all :  there  is  another  sheer  imposture  in  this  matter.  It  is  not  true  that 
your  priests  either  do,  or  can,  say  all  the  masses  for  the  departed  souls.  If  they  did, 
they  must  be  saying  masses,  day,  and  night,  every  hour  of  all  their  lives!     You  need 

not, you  ought  not  to  pay  any  more  for  at  least  a  thousand  years — for  your  priests, 

every  where,  at  least,  are  a  thousand  years  in  arrears  ! — Make  them  pay  up  in  masses, 
"before  you  pay  another  copper !  How  is  it  that  you  are  so  slow, — so  utterly  without 
judgment,  at  making  equitable  bargains  ? 

The  late  Rev.  Dutch  minister  of  Sourland,  Somerset,  N.  Jersey,  was  very  intimate 

with  father  P ,  who  occasionally  officiated  there.     Once,  while  in  a  jocose  and 

free  conversation,  the  Dominie  said  to  the  priest, — "  Father  P ,  it  is  all  nonsense 

to  profess  that  you  believe  in  purgatory  :  you  have  too  much  learning  and  good  sense 
to  believe  in  any  such  thing!     Come  now,  ami  not  right?"     "Ah!"  said  father 

P ,  "  you  are  too  severe :  but  come  now,  I  declare  solemnly,  that  I  do  believe  in 

purgatory,  as  earnestly  as  any  other  priest  I  I  am  honest  and  loyal  to  Holy  Mother." 
And  he  shook  his  vasty  sides,  and  laughed  right  merrily ;  and  added, — "  Come  over  to 
my  chambers,  and  I  declare  to  you,  that  I  will  show  you  purgatory."  "  What — show 
me  purgatory?"  cried  the  astonished  Dominie  ; — '*  Yes,  you  shall  see  it,  on  my  honor, 
with  your  own  eyes !" 

You  may  be  assured  that  the  curious  Dominie  lost  no  time  in  visiting  the  priest.  And, 
after  a  refreshment  of  no  ordinary  a  kind, — for  there  were  no  temperance  societies,  in 
those  days,  the  Dominie  reminded  his  host  of  the  promise  touching  the  vision  of  pur- 
gatory. "  To  be  sure"— said. the  father, — "  Y^ou  shall  see  it :  follow  me."  He  con- 
ducted him  into  the  confessional ;  and  approaching  a  small  bureau,  he  pulled  out  the 
drawer  containing  some  silver  pieces, — such  as  dollars,  half-dollars,  and  occasionally 
some  few  shining  bits  of  gold ; — then  turning  on  his  guest  the  most  quizzical  look  im- 
aginable, he  said — "  There,  my  good  sir,  is  my  purgatory :  and  the  only  one  I  know  of, 
or  care  for!" 

My  respected  friends,  every  one  knows,  that  in  a  figure  of  speech,  the  effect  is  often 
put  for  the  cause.  Here  is  an  instance  of  it.  The  silver  and  gold  were  the  effect  of 
his  victims'  belief  in  purgatory.  The  jiriest  here  gravely  took  the  effect  for  the  cause  : 
he  believed  firmly  in  the  visible  effect ;  while  he  left  the  cause  to  the  faith  of  "  silly  fools 
laden  with  iniquity,"  who  believe  without  evidence,  and  trust  in  the  existence  of  a 
non-entity  !  The  most  of  the  priests  may,  perhaps,  be  as  learned,  and  as  -wdse  as  this 
father  :  but,  most  assuredly,  few  of  them  are  as  honest  and  as  candid  as  he  was. 

I  have  thus  respectfully,  and  most  earnestly  urged  on  you  the  duty  of  asserting 
your  independence,  and  claiming  your  unalienable  birth-right,  to  think  for  yourselves, 
and  choose  your  own  religion.  Do  not,  any  more,  repeat  what  assuredly  is  not  true, 
that  we  aim  at  persuading  you  to  forsake  your  religion,  and  the  religion  of  your 
fathers,  This  is  sheer  priestcraft.  The  priests  have  taught  you  to  say  this.  They 
do  it  merely  for  effect,  and  deception.  We  ask  you  to  abandon, — not  what  you  ever 
voluntarily  chose ;  not  what  you  embraced  after  accurate  scriptural  research,  and 
earnest  prayer  to  God  for  fight;  but  that  which  has  been  palmed  on  you  for  religion! 
Had  you  sought  it  simply  from  God,  and  out  of  his  holy  and  only  inspired  Word,  you 
would  have  found  that  which  we  would  never  have  asked  you  to  forsake.  What  we 
beg  you  to  abandon  is,  that  system  of  mental  tyranny ;  those  human  devices,  not 
found  in  all  God's  word:  that  cunningly  devised  system,  which  takes  away  your  pro- 
perty wtthout  giving  you  any  instruction,  or  any  equivalent  whatever  in  return ;  which 
robs  you  of  real  peace  :  which,  by  imposing  flattery,  leads  your  souls  astray,  from 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  181 

the  only  shepherd  and  bishop  of  souls,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  chains  you  to  the 
car  of  an  unrelenting  priestly  vassalage,  and  the  worst  of  all  despotism !  We  implore 
you,  fellow  citizens,  to  hasten  your  escape  from  this  yoke  of  bondage.  Read, — think, 
— and  boldly  assert  your  rights  to  judge  for  yourselves !  Sustain  the  digniiy  and  glory 
of  your  nature.  In  this  happy  land  the  souls  of  all  are  free,  but  yours.  The  chains 
of  the  dark  age  are  still  rivetted  on  you,  by  ghostly  tyranny.  Reject  with  indigna- 
tion, and  spurn  from  you  the  disgusting  legends,  traditions,  and  impostures  of  men, 
who  are  six  centuries  behind  all  other  people  in  knowledge,  and  morals,  and  religion  ! 
Ofmen,  who  reap  gain  from  ungodliness,  whose  untiring  effort  is  to  stop  the  progress 
of  the  Bible  and  christian  knowledge ;  and  whose  pleasure  and  gain  lie  in  keeping 
the  species  wrapped  in  the  profoundest  ignorance !  Hitherto  have  the  priests  dictated 
for  a  religion  to  your  consciences,  what  God  never  taught  by  his  prophets !  And 
this  they  know  as  well  as  we  do !  These  inventions,  and  their  mummery,  and  mock- 
ery of  God  and  of  man,  are  what  we  implore  you  to  abandon.  Choose  your  religion 
out  of  the  pure  and  unadulterated  word  of  God  ;  and  no  longer  yield  your  souls  a  prey 
to  the  impostures  of  ignorant,  profligate,  and  designing  priests !  We  appeal  to  the 
Most  High,  our  common  Lord  and  Master,  that  we  long  over  you,  to  see  you  raised 
to  the  spiritual  liberty,  which  all  your  fellow  citizens  enjoy,  in  our  happy  Republic. 
You  only  of  all  the  Repubhcan  family,  have  not  rid  yourselves  of  the  execrable  spi- 
ritual vassalage,  from  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  our  fathers  set  themselves  free  1 

One  of  our  fellow  citizens,  the  other  day,  gave  a  Bible  to  a  Roman  catholic  neigh- 
bor, in  Brooklyn.  He  is  a  respectable  man :  and  he  can  read  and  write.  It  was 
given  him  as  a  great  curiosity ;  and  he  promised  to  read  it.  But  he  soon  brought  it 
back.  His  own  mind  filled  with  the  traditions  and  nonsense  of  priestcraft,  under  the 
whisperings  of  his  spiritual  guide,  was  itself  the  standard  and  rule.  For  tradition  and 
prejudice  are  the  real  and  genuine  rule  of  faith  of  the  men,  who  exercise  their  souls 
by  proxy,  and  think  by  proxy  :  and  believe  by  proxy :  and  who,  if  they  drop  unexpect- 
edly into  hell,  they  expect  to  be  recalled  by  priestly  proxy,  or  else  they  have  the  con- 
solation that  their  proxy  is  to  be  "damned  in  their  stead!"  He  threw  the  Bible  to 
his  neighbour.—"  Take  it  back  "  cried  he,  "  His  a  dangerous  hook!  It  contains  dam- 
nable errors;  and  it  has  no  Roman  catholic  religion  in  it:  not  even  a  word  for  "the 
Mother  of  God,*'  "  the  Queen  of  Heaven."  I  go  with  the  priest  in  ail  that  he  says : 
and  if  he  be  damned;  then  I  am  willing  to  be  damned  too  !"  This  authentic  anec- 
dote I  am  prepared  to  prove  by  two  respectable  citizens  who  stood  by,  and  heard  him 
utter  it. 

In  some  political  straggles,  when  party  spirit  has  run  high,  we  have  heard  of  some 
warm  politicians  ''^  going  the  whole  hog.'"'  But  here  is  a  novel  display.  Here  is  a 
daring  spirit  who  carried  the  bold  experiment  into  the  world  of  mind  and  immortality  ! 
Here  is  a  master  spirit,  who  bows  so  lowly  before  the  throne  of  Antichrist;  and  burns 
with  such  zeal  to  support  the  crusade  of  priestcraft,  and  despotism  against  God's  holy 
scriptures,  and  the  christian  rehgion,thathe  is  prepared  to  sacrifice  body,  and  life,  and 
even  his  soul,  and  even  heaven ;  and  plunge  into  the  gulph  of  perdition,  to  grace  the 
cause,  and  win  a  triumph  for  the  prince  of  darkness ! 

But,  pardon  me,  I  ask  you,  my  respected  friends,  if  this  man  acted  with  the  dignity 
of  a  man  ?  Is  this  conduct  rational,  or  befitting  a  human  being  ?  Can  such  a  wretcli 
as  that,  be  fit  to  grace  any  office,  or  occupy  any  post, — but  the  handle  of  the  oar  of  a 
galley  slave ;  or  the  handle  of  the  hammer  of  a  wretched  culprit  hi  the  mines  o 
Mexico,  or  Peru  ? 

17 


J32  ROMAN   CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSr. 

Here  is  another  specimen,  I  heard  it  uttered  the  other  day  by  one  of  yourselves,  he  . 
was  a  ffood  cathoUc.  He  "swore  he  was  in  the  full  faith ;  and  believed  all  that  the 
priests  believed :  he  was  not  quite  so  moral,  he  frankly  admitted,  as  some  others:  but 
*'he  swore  he  was  of  the  genuine  faith.''  "Now,  Doyle,"  said  I,  "what  do  you 
believe?"  "I  believe  as  the  holy  church  believes."  "Well,  Doyle,  what  does  the 
church  believe?"  "Arrah  now,  she  believes,  I  swear,  exactly  what  I  believe!" 
"Well  said,  Doyle,  but  tell  us  what  you  both  believe?"  He  raised  his  fair  Milesian 
face,  and  declared  with  the  best  humored  smile  in  the  world, — "Arrah!  now  we  do 
believe  exactly  alike  the  same  thing." 

Having  now,  I  trust,  formed  an  acquaintance,  and  having  mutually  refreshed  our 
memories  with  what  we  have  gone  over,  in  my  former  Letters  to  the  Priests :  I  beg 
leave  here  to  pause ;  offering  soon  to  present  myself  on  a  graver  subject,  and  in  a 
graver  manner.     I  am,  fellow  citizens,  with  respectful  and  christian  salutations, 

Your  sincere  friend,  &c. 

W.  C.  B> 


LETTER  m. 

TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCE*- 

Avrjp    h  (p£vyo)v,  Kai  va\iv  jjLa^r}asTai^ 

"  The  man  who  fights,  and  runs  away 
May  hve  to  fight  another  day." 

Demvsthenes. 

'I'ellow  Citizens  : — You  have  penetrated  the  reasons,  before  now,  why  the  bish- 
op's three  champions  have  deserted  your  cause ;  and  abandoned  the  defence  of  "  Holy 
Mother."  At  any  rate,  every  intelligent  Protestant  perceives  the  reasons.  One  of 
them  was  this  : — -There  is  a  certahi  rule  laid  down  by  the  Jesuits,  whose  order  has 
been  revived,  to  plant  Romanism  in  our  land ;  and  sap  the  foundation  of  our  repub- 
lican institutions.  That  rule  binds  the  consciences  of  the  Jesuits,  my  late  opponents. 
The  rule  I  alluded  to,  is  thus  expressed  by  Busseus,  ''Never  discuss  the  doctrines 
of  Holy  Mother  Church  with  a  heretic,  if  it  can  fossihly  be  avoided.''  You  all  know 
how  scrupulously  my  antagonists  obeyed  this  Jesuitical  rule.  They  poured  out  their 
ebulitions  of  malignity  against  the  only  rule  of  faith  ;  and  exhausted  the  last  shaft  of 
infidel  animosity  against  God's  holy  word.  This  they  would  do.  But  they  shunned 
all  discussion  of  their  church's  doctrines  and  rites.  Another  reason  was  this : — when 
they  entered  the  lists,  they  had  no  idea  that  we  possessed  the  books,  which  we  have; 
and  which  are  written  by  their  great  men.  They  had  no  conception  that  these  works, 
now  in  our  possession,  and  which  we  have  been  quoting,  were  in  the  United  States ; 
but  were  on  the  contrary  slumbering  in  the  monastic  hbraries  of  Spain,  Italy,  and 
Austria.  Hence  they  began,  and  actually  practised,  for  a  while,  the  ruse  de  guerre^ 
common  with  all  Jesuits  in  places  where  the  people  have  not  their  books  ;  and  know 
not  their  tenets.  They  denied  their  own  books :  they  denied  their  real  doctrines. 
But  it  is  impossible  to  describe  their  astonishment  and  confusion,  when  we  quoted 
the  originals  of  their  own  works,  and  named  page  and  chapter.  From  that  time, 
they  evidently  drew  back  :  and  dealt  no  more  in  denying  their  books  and  principles. 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  183 

One  of  my  antagonists  exclaimed  in  the  hearing  of  a  friend  of  mine, — "  ^Vhere  in 
the  mischief,  do  these  fellows  get  all  these  books  !"  If  it  would  be  in  any  way  edif^^- 
ing  I  would  tell  him.  Under  providence  we  are  indebted  to  Napoleon,  and  his  "re- 
forming" troops,  for  many  of  them.  These  soldiers  broke  up  many  a  Jesuit's  and 
Inquisitor's  librarj^,  in  their  visit  to  Italy,  Spain,  and  Naples.  These  volumes  were 
sold  to  these  "reforming  soldiers;"  as  plunder,  profitable  to  themselves  :  and  it  is 
probable,  moreover,  that  they  had  wit  enough  to  discover  that  any  body  ;  even  heretics, 
would  make  a  better  use  of  these  volumes  than  the  dull,  sleek-headed,  fat,  contented, 
ignorant  monks  of  the  cells,  ever  could  do.  I  have  in  my  possession  a  Latin  work 
308  years  old.  It  was  written  by  the  bishop  of  Rochester  against  Luther,  in  defence 
of  king  Harry  VIII.  before  that  prince  dashed  off  the  pope's  crown  and  put  it  on  his 
own  head.  I  have  another  to7ne  of  3000  pages  folio,  and  lately  the  property  of  one 
of  the  pope's  "  Apostolical  Protonotaries ;"  whose  name  and  coat  of  arms  are  bla- 
zoned in  front  of  it.  It  is  a  precious  body  of  Jesuitism, — its  laws,  and  doctrines, 
drawn  at  full  length ; — namely,  the  works  of  L.  Molina.  And  whatever  uninform- 
ed men  may  say,  these  very  doctrines  of  Jesuitism,  as  we  shall  show  ere  long,  are  re- 
\ived  in  our  country  by  the  newly  revived  sect,  in  all  their  immutable  virulence. 
He  is  unpardonably  ignorant  of  European  history,  who  does  not  know  the  genius  of 
Jesuitism,  the  master  piece  of  Satan's  deepest  and  utmost  stretch  of  invention  :  and 
also  that  every  government  of  Europe  has  denounced  them  as  equal  to  legions  of  in- 
carnate fiends  :  and  the  unrelenting  foes  of  liberty  and  religion  :  the  desperate  ene- 
mies of  God  and  man !  And  that  x\merican  citizen  is  as  unpardonably  ignorant  of 
the  present  state  of  things  in  Europe,  and  his  own  Republic,  who  does  not  know  that 
Jesuitism  has  been  lately  revived  with  full  powers  by  the  popes,  ivith  one  grand  spe- 
cific object ;  openl}'  avowed  here  and  in  Europe,  namely,  to  overrun  this  republic ; 
put  dowm  our  republican  institutions  :  establish  despotism  :  and  finally,  the  Romish 
hierarchy,  and  the  inquisition :  and  then  organize  crusades  against  the  Plotestant 
religion  !  !  It  is  true,  we  smile  at  their  diabolical  and  fruitless  intentions ;  and  appeal 
to  the  Most  High  for  protection.  But  belt  remembered  : — this  is  to  be  prevented  by 
the  glorious  schemes,  and  the  means  now  used  by  the  christian  public  :  and  by  the 
missionaries,  and  by  Sabbath  schools  in  the  vallies  of  the  Mississippi :  and  by  the  Tract 
and  Bible  societies : — and  not  by  these  lukewarm  christians,  and  lukewarm  politi- 
cians in  our  countr^%  who  cry, — "no  danger," — "no  fear!"  And  who,  moreover, 
betray  on  whose  side  they  are,  by  sending  their  children  to  be  trained  up  by  licentious 
and  expelled  European  Jesuits  !  And  who  betray  their  country's  cause  by  contribu- 
ting sums  of  money  to  build  up  Jesuit's  chapels  and  colleges,  out  of  which  are  to 
issue  men,  who  will  make  deadly  war  against  our  republican  institutions,  and  our 
religious  liberty  ! !     Who  does  not  see  that  this  is  treason  against  our  republic  ! 

These  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  your  priest's  have  retreated  from  the  field.  The 
object  of  Jesuits  is  to  carry  on  their  work  in  silence,  darkness,  and  concealment.-^ 
They  are  determined  secretly  to  undermine  us.  And  when  they  think  they  have  the 
power,  we  shall  hear  of  the  American  gun-powder  plot  !  Hence  our  priests 
hate  nothing  more  than  the  exposure  of  their  real  doctrines,  and  their  real  object. 
And,  hence,  fellow  citizens  of  all  ranks,  you  perceive  the  reason  why  I  must  go  on  ; 
and  tear  the  whole  mask  off  from  the  face  of  Jesuitism  ;  and  the  w^hole  of  the  faded 
purple  robe  off  the  old  paralytic  limbs  of  "  Mother  Babylon  !"  I  have  received  let- 
ters from  many  parts  of  the  United  States;  particularly  from  New  England,  Vir- 
ginia, Ohio,  Kentucky;  and  the  "far  West,"  urging  me  to  go  on.     These  contro- 


184 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSt. 


versial  Letters  of  New-York,  and  Philadelphia,  are  read  with  avidity,  by,  perhaps:, 
four  millions  o{  our  fellow  citizens.  Does  any  man  think  that  I  can  prove  recreant 
to  my  God,  and  my  country  ;  and  like  the  priests,  turn  my  back  and  retreat  1  Shall 
I  obey  two  oi  three  individuals  ;  and  refuse  the  loud  call  of  millions?  No!  sooner 
let  my  arm  fall  from  my  shoulder  blade  !  I  shall  not  stop  until  I  am  done :  and  the 
priests  know  what  that  means.  I  throw  myself  on  the  kind  indulgence  of  the  chris- 
tian and  political  public,  who  have  hitherto  sustained  me.  And  I  entreat  of  all  my 
fellow  citizens,  a  patient  and  full  hearing. 

I  shall  now  go  on  with  the  regular  discussion.— I  have  despatched  three  marks  of 
your  priest's  church.  I  now  beg  your  attention,  fellow  citizens,  respectfully,  to  the 
examination  uf  the  next  mark. 

Fonrth.^Yom  sa.vctity.  By  this  attribute  of  their  church  and  priesthood,  your 
priests  mean  to  convey  the  idea  that  they,  their  associates,  and  popes,  are  really 
HOLY.  They  are  quite  separated  from  the  wicked  men  of  this  wicked  world  :  they 
are  HOLY  I  They  care  nothing  about  power:  nothing  about  money, — vile  trash  ! 
They  would  not  take  it  from  their  devout  and  pure  disciples!  They  are  above  it, — 
and  above  the  world,  and  above  its  dainties !  Revelry  and  wine,  and  mirth,  are  to 
the  HOLY  and  spotless  priesthood,  an  utter  abomination  !  It  makes  them  even  fain^ 
at  the  idea  of  social  company  !  -  Their  spirits  die  away  in  them  at  the  idea  of  earthly 
joys,  and  merry  entertainments!  They  are  holy  !  They  are  sublimely  weaned 
from  the  world.  A  dinner  on  meats,  and  icine  on  Fridays,  at  home,  or  in  a  steamboat, 
would  shock  and  kill  them  ontright !  The  very  presence  of  a  female,— the  very 
name  of  wife,  would  make  them  expire  in  fits,  and  give  up  the  ghost! ! 

This  is  not  all.  They  are  holy  in  their  pope  and  cardinals,  who  have  not  yet 
practically  believed  in  the  existence  of  the  Deity.  The  prince  bishops  of  the  old  worlds 
who  boast  that  they  believe  in  no  other  world  than  the  -present,  are  holy  !  The 
priests  who  know  not  the  first  elements  of  religion,  are  holy  unto  their  god  /"  Their 
rites  and  doctrines,  all  invented  since  the  sixth  century,  and  invented  by  tyrants  and 
knaves,  to  plunder  the  people  of  the  fruhs  of  their  industry,  are  all  holy  !  Their  vest* 
ments  of  motle}^  color,  and  unmatched  shape,  are  all  holy.  If  a  priest  ''swears  by 
his  holy  vestments,''  as  every  devout  Roman  catholic  knows,  it  is  an  oath  vs^hich  none 
of  the  simple  faithful  ever  doubts.  In  a  word  what  the  priest  does,  isholT/ :  what  the 
priest  says  is  holy;  what  he  blesses  is  holy  ;  what  he  consecrates,  such  as  relics,  were 
they  even  tlte  bones  of  a  convict,  or  a  Turk — they  are  holy  saintly  relics!  The 
chapel  is  holy :  the  floor  is  holy:  the  ahar  is  holy:  the  candles  are  holy  :  the  water 
is  holy:  the  oil  is  holy  :  the  incense  and  its  smoke  are  holy!  All  that  is  absurd,  and 
stupid,  and  outrageous  on  common  sense, — such  as  the  wafer  consecrated  into  a  God. 
is  holy.  All — all  is  ^oZi/,  except  only  such  small  concerns  as  these;  namely:  the 
soul,  the  heart,  and  the  lives  of  the  priests,  and  their  victims !  When  the  priest  ut- 
ters holy  anathemas  on  all  but  his  own  sect,  he  is  holy !  When  he  dooms  the  whole 
Protestant  world  to  hell,  he  is  holy  !  When  he  grants  absolution  for  sin  at  the  stated 
price,  in  the  pope's  chancery  book — and  blots  out  iniquity  on  the  graduated  scale  of 
pounds,  shillings,  and  pence,  he  is  holy  !  When  he  grants  an  indulgence  at  a  stipu- 
lated sum,  to  secure  an  indemnit}^  against  future  penalties  and  sins,  just  as  far  as  the 
sum,  fixed  upon,  goes,  he  is  holy  !  In  fine,  the  centre  of  all  apostacy,  sin,  tyranny* 
persecution,  and  ghostly  despotism,  is  pronounced  at  Rome  to  be  holinr  ss.  And  he 
who  bears  tlie  title  and  Hvery  of  Antichrist,  is  called  "His  holiness,"  in  the  ab- 
stract !     And  on  the  same  principle,  when  the   princes  and  rulers  under  the  chief 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  185 

prince  of  darkness,  address  each  other  in  council,  in  Milton's  Pandemonium,  it  is  quite 
supposable  that  in  courtesy  they  politely  address  each  other  by  the  names  and  titles 
of -what  they  once  were, — as  "Your  holiness!"  "Your  sublime  gravity  !  Your 
immaculate  virtue  !"  And  all  this  takes  place  while  they  are  plotting  the  ruin  of  the 
blessed  Redeemer's  church !  And  every  student  of  human  nature,  and  of  things, 
knows  that  with  deep  designers  and  profligate  men,  there  is  a  special  advantage  in 
calling  things  by  names  the  perfect  reverse  of  the  truth  !  If  I  plot  the  ruin  of  my 
country,  I  assume  the  name  of  patriot,  and  clamor  loudly  about  patriotism !  If  I  am 
going  to  utter  the  most  palpable  lies,  and  fictions,  and  slanders, — I  call  my  pages 
*'  Truth  Teller  !"  If  I  am  going  to  persecute,  murder,  and  massacre  good  men ; 
and  extirpate  the  true  religion  of  Christ,  I  call  myself  "His  Holiness."  If,  like 
Satan,  a  masterspirit  tries  to  do  the  work  of  darkness,  "  he  transforms  himself  into  an 
angel  of  light  I" 

I  am  aware  that  no  Roman  priest  believes  what  he  utters  about  "  holmess.''^  It  is 
used  simply  for  effect ;  to  rivet  the  chains  of  deluded  victims ! 

The  entire  argument  of  their  champion  Dr.  Milner  of  England,  is  this.  "If  the 
church  was  holy  once,  she  is  holy  still :  because  the  church  never  changes  her  doc' 
trines,  nor  suffers  any  one  in  her,  to  change  them."  Letter  19.  In  this  sophism,  he 
takes  the  "church,"  in  one  sense;  namely,  to  be  the  church  of  God:  in  the  rest  of  his 
sentence,  he  takes  it  for  granted,  without  any  proof,  that  the  Romish  church  is  the  only 
church.  And  hence  he  infers  that  the  Romish  sect  is  the  only  and  entire  church  of 
God ;  and,  thence,  that  the  Romish  sect  is  the  church  in  heaven :  and  the  church  on 
earth  !  And,  from  this  unparalleled  impudence  of  assumption,  he  tries  to  compose 
his  muscles  into  sufficient  gravity,  so  as  to  infer  that  the  Romish  church  is  holy  ! 

This  is,  precisely,  the  sophistry  which  pervades  our  vicar  general's  one  sermon, 
which  he  preaches  on  this  subject,  always,  and  over  all  the  world.  He  first  sets 
about  proving  that  "  God's  church  is  holy."  He  then  solemnly  concludes,  not  with- 
out a  little  pompous  bravado,  that  "holy  mother  church  of  Rome  is  all  the  world 
over,  pure  and  holy !"  It  is  remarakble  that  he  never  took  it  into  his  head  to  prove 
that  the  church  of  Rome  is  the  church  of  God ;  which  he  behoved  of  necessity  to  do, 
in  order  to  prove  her  holy.  His  fatal  logic  leaves  out,  entirely,  the  connecting  pre- 
mise !  On  this  principle,  and  mode  of  argument,  the  Jews  have  infinitely  the  advan- 
tage of  him.  "We  the  Jews  once  were  holy,  as  no  believer  in  the  Old  Testament  can 
deny."  But  once  holy,  always  holy  :  for  the  church  of  God  is  immutable ;  no  matter, 
though  we  forsake  the  laws  and  doctrines  of  our  fathers !"  Hence  the  Jews  constitute 
the  one  only  true  church  !"  And  I  shall  venture  to  say  that  no  vicar  general,  with 
the  aid  of  all  the  bishops,  and  of  all  the  popes,  can  refute  their  plea.  And  this  is  what 
every  reasonable  man  must  admit. 

Your  priests  try  to  compose  their  faces  so  far  into  a  semblance  of  gravity,  as  to  lay 
claims  to  spotless  sanctity  in  doctrine,  sanctity  in  rites,  sanctity  in  priesthood  and 
vestments;  and  sanctity  in  the  children  of  hol}^  mother!  In  my  Letter  VII.  I 
established  the  fact  that  your  priests  have  so  far  deceived  you,  my  fellow  citizens, 
that  they  have  not  left  one  distinctive  genuine  gospel  doctrine  pure  and  entire,  in  your 
church.  If  there  be  one,  I  invite  any  sensible  man  to  point  it  out.  "Why,  the 
Romish  priests  believe  in  the  Trinity  and  in  one  God!"  That  I  beg  leave  to  deny. 
The  priests  create  a  god  at  every  mass  :  and  moreover,  to  the  one  only  object  of 
worship  tliey  have  added  "  the  mother  of  God,"  and  some  thirty  thousand  other  saints 
and  saintesses,  to  whom  they  offer  incense :  and  say  more  prayers  than  to  God ! 


186  ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

*'But  they  believe  in  the  incarnation  of  Christ."  This  I  affirm  they  do  not  retain 
*'pure  and  entire."  The  wafer  converted  into  the  body  and  blood,  soul  and  divinity 
of  Christ,  is  offered  up  as  their  incarnate  god  and  christr'' 

"But,  they  adore  the  Holy  Ghost."  Can  any  one  gravely  profess  to  believe  so^ 
who  has  ever  associated,  in  familiar  intercourse,  with  a  Romish  priest  ?  Can  any  one 
soberly  believe  this  who  has  read  your  priests'  taunts  about  "the  Holy  Ghost?" 
No,  I  do  assure  you,  fellow  citizens,  that  they  have  no  practical  belief  of  the  Holy 
Spirit :  they  believe  not  in  his  influences :  nor  in  regeneration,  nor  in  gospel  hoh- 
uess:  nor  in  "justification  by  faith,  without  the  deeds  of  the  law."  Their  incense, 
their  holy  water,  their  saintly  intercessions,  their  priests'  intention,  and  the  efficacy  of 
their  rites  to  convey  grace,  have  utterly  excluded  the  Holy  Ghost  from  their  system  of 
belief.  Their  rule  of  faith  excludes  the  prophetical  office  of  Christ :  their  mass  and 
their  own  prieshood,  have  displaced  Christ's  priestly  office:  and  the  blasphemy  and 
despotism  of  the  pope's  supremacy  have  taken  the  kingly  crown  off  the  head  of 
our  blessed  Redeemer  I  In  one  word,  the  whole  system  of  the  Romish  priestcraft  is 
"a  gospel"  as  completely  different  from  the  gospel  of  Christ,  as  the  "  great  whore  of 
Babylon,"  is  different  from  the  chaste  spouse  of  Christ,  and  as  different  as  the  first 
born  of  Satan,  is  from  the  great  God  our  Savior! 

The  only  personal  sanctity  which  your  priests  advocate,  and  require  in  your  mem- 
bers, is  wholly  external.  They  must  be  sprinkled  with  holy  water,  and  anointed 
with  the  holy  chrism ;  pay  the  church's  dues ;  go,  at  least,  once  a  year  to  confes- 
sion :  and  die  in  the  bosom  of  "  the  church,"  meaning  the  Romish  church:  and,  then, 
whatever  may  have  been  their  unbelief,  and  vices,  they  are  safe.  The  priest  gives 
each  man,  even  the  most  unrefoniied  profligate,  even  a  Charles  II.,  or  a  Louis,  a 
passport  into  heaven :  and  St.  Peter  and  St.  Patrick  w411  suffer  no  refusal  from  any 
there !  Let  me  add  that  the  priest's  sanctity  lies  also  all  on  the  outer  side.  He  must 
have  had  the  lock  shorn  off,  and  his  crown  shaved  :  and  the  consecrated  vestments 
on,  with  its  orthodox  cut,  and  orthodox  color :  and  all  is  holy  ; — even  though  his  hands 
be  polluted  with  the  worst  of  crimes ;  and  his  heart  destitue  of  charity :  and  even 
possessed  with  a  legion  of  devils!  He  is  holy!  in  proof  of  this  I  quote  your  own 
accredited  writers.  Bellarmine,  De  Eccles.  Lib.  3,  cap.  7.  There  you  will  find  it 
stated  that  a  man  who  is  a  drunkard,  a  profane  sv/earer — nay,  an  infidel  and  "even 
a  reprobate,"  may  yet  be  a  good  member  of  the  Romish  church !  See  also  the  Rhe- 
mish  Annotations  on  John,  ch.  xv.  and  Sect.  1.  So  completely  is  gospel  holiness  lost 
in  the  Romish  sect ! 

Your  priests  present  exclusive  claims  to  sanctity  also  from  their  possessing  "the 
only  holy  institutions  and  rites,"  by  which  '^they  convey  grace,''  to  their  devotees. 
Pray  what  holy  rites  ?  "  Why,  the  seven  sacraments."  What!  the  five  rites  which 
you  have  added  to  our  Lord's  appointed  sacraments.  Do  you  really  mean  such 
sacraments  as  that  of  "holy  matrimony?"  "Yes,  we  mean  that!  and  by  that, 
through  the  priests'  'intention'  are  conveyed  the  virtue  and  purity  of  holiness  to  the 
married."  What !  and  yet  you  deny  it  to  the  priests !  You  impose  celibacy  on  them. ! 
You  deny  them  the  holy  efficacy  of  that  sacrament,  which,  of  all  men  living,  they 
stand  infinitely  the  most  in  need  of!  Do  you  mean  the  sacraments  of  penance* 
extreme  unction,  and  all  the  other  additional  rites,  which  your  priests  facetiously  call 
'■'•sacraments.''  Why,  so  far  from  possessing  sanctity,  or  conveying  it,  they  are  sheer 
impositions  invented  by  despots  and  knaves !  They  are  the  offspring  of  priestcraft» 
invented  after  the  sixth  century :  and  have  been  too  successfully  employed  to  rob 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  187 

simple  and  credulous  people  of  their  properly.  For  proof  of  this,  may  I  beg  your 
attention  to  my  Letter  VIII  ?  They  are  mere  forgeries.  And  there  is  not  one  of  your 
prieets  so  utterly  destitute  of  intellect,  as  not  to  know  this.  They  have  been  false 
tokens  by  which  money  has  been  fraudulently  gained :  they  are  forged  notes  and 
checks  by  which  property  has  been  taken  feloniously  from  the  ignorant  and  unsus- 
pectinc^.  And,  now,  I  beg  leave,  fellow  citizens,  to  put  this  question  to  everj'  candid 
man  in  the  community,  whether  the  money  obtained  from  people  by  these  coun- 
terfeit sacraments,  be  not  as  wickedly  obtained,  as  ever  any  money  was  obtained  of 
our  fellow  citizens,  by  the  forgers  and  counterfeiters  that  prowl  on  the  comm^unity? 
Is  the  "  splended  robbery"  less  criminal  because  it  is  perpetrated  under  the  name  and 
sanction  of  religion  ?  Is  it  less  atrocious,  and  less  ruinous  to  men,  because  the  trans- 
action is  the  parchase  and  sale  of  men's  spiritual  liberty,  and  the  souls  of  immortal 
beings,  instead  of  the  common  articles  of  every  day's  business?  Is  it  less  damning 
before  the  eyes  of  pure  Heaven,  because,  in  the  just  and  perfect  hberty  granted  to 
religion,  true  and  false,  the  laws  of  men  reach  not  the  ghostly  felony  1 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  yours  truly  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  IV. 

TO    THE    MEMBERS    OF    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

'•  The  hypocrhe  in  mask  !— He  was  a  man, 

Who  stole  the  livery  of  the  court  of  heaven 

To  serve  the  devil  in  !     In  virtues  guise, 

Devoured  the  widow's  bread  ; 

In /2o/?/j;//rflse  transacted  villanies 

That  common  sinners  durst  not  meddle  with  !" 

Follok. 

Fellow  Citizens  :— Your  priesthood  has  laid  claims  to  exclusive  sanctity  from 
this  additional  plea,  that  your  head,  the  pope,  is  ''holiness  itself  r'  and  that,  moreover, 
you  had  all  the  saints  within  your  own  church,  to  shed  an  exclusive  glory  o£  holiness 
on  you. 

In  a  former  letter  on  the  succession  of  the  popes,  I  showed  you  fully,  that  the  list 
of  the  popes,  contained  a  majority  of  names  of  the  most  atrocious  monsters  !  Men 
they  were,  that  invented  and  perpetrated  crimes  which  surpassed,  so  far  as  we  know, 
any  thing  ever  conceived  at  the  council  board  of  Pandemonium !  Men  who  led 
ou  the  blood  thirsty  troops  of  Rome,  and  murdered  slity  eight  millions  of  human 
beings ;  not  to  mention  the  fearful  destruction  of  immortal  souls,  caused  by  their 
deadly  errors  !  Are  these  men  ''holiness  unto  the  Lord  !"  And,  as  for  the  saints, 
their  lives  and  adventures  are  those  of  bloody  knaves,  such  as  Loyola :  and  fanatics, 
macerating  their  bodies  by  endless  acts  of  personal  and  social  cruelty  ;  and  suicides! 
Monstrous  "  miracle-mongers"  hke  St.  Dennis  and  four  others,  who  took  up  their 
heads  after  they  were  cut  ofT,  and  walked  with  them  under  their  arms— or,  like  St. 
Patrick  and  others,  sailing  over  seas  on  their  cloaks,  and  on  mill-stones.  I  refer  for 
proof  to  Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints,  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  and  to  your  Breviary. 

The  history  of  celibacy  and  monachism  in  general,  affords  the  most  impressive  illus- 
tratiofl  of  the  priests'  claims  to  sanctity.    I  shall  merely  allude  to  this  at  present. 


Jgg  ROMAN  CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

Until  the  time  of  pope  Gregory  VII.,  in  1074,  the  priests  married,  and  Uved  with  their 
families,  like  oiher  honest  men,  notwithstanding  certain  fanatical  laws,  which  before 
the  times  of  this  execrable  and  wicked  tyrant,  lay  dormant.  He  enforced  these  laws 
and  parted  husband  ^mU  T.ife.  From  this  time,  honest  and  pure  men  were  excluded 
from  the  priesthood  :  none  were  employed  but  those  who  took  an  oath  to  denounce 
sacerdotal  marriage.  Personal  purity  was  now  at  an  end  in  the  Romish  priesthood. 
A  deluge  of  whoredom  and  pollution  covered,  and  drowned  them  in  perdition.  With 
priests,  the  word  chastity  has  been  always  used  in  a  sense  diiferent  from  that  of  all 
good  men.  With  the  incontinent  priest,  it  means  "not  mamed.''  I  have  heard  our 
New  York  priests  use  it,  in  this  exclusive  sense.  '*  To  live  in  chastity,"  is  to  live 
*'Twt  married:'  It  never  means  in  the  priests'  vocabulary,  mental  and  bodily  purity. 
A  priest,  by  their  canon,  is  "  chaste,'''  if  he  be  vnmarried:  even  though  he  is  known 
in  private,  and  at  the  confessional,  even  as  a  common  rake  and  fornicator!  Every- 
one who  has  seen  their  private  manners ;  and  every  devotee  who  kneels  at  the  con- 
fessional, has  had  perfect  e%idence  of  all  this  !  The  Roman  catholic  bishop  Scipio 
De  Ricci  has  demonstrated  u  by  facts.     See  his  "  Memoirs"  published  in  London. 

It  is  a  fact,  true  to  a  proverb,  and  proclaimed  publicly  by  the  best  of  the  Romish 
writers,  that  from  the  days  of  Gregory  VII.,  monasteries  and  nunneries  were  vast 
extended  sodoms ;  and  the  priesthood,  in  every  respect,  hke  the  inhabitants  of  the 
cities  of  the  plain !  The  temples  of  x\starte,  and  of  Babylon,  and  of  the  Greek  and 
Roman  Venus,  -vere,  really,  decent  and  moral,  amid  all  their  pagan  pollution,  com- 
pared to  the  d-ns  of  the  monks,  and  nuns,  and  priests !  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  tell 
the  miUionth  part  of  the  horridly  impious  doings  of  these  men !  It  v/as  even  publicly 
enacted  that  marriage  in  a  priest  was  a  deadly  sin :  but  he  might  keep  his  concubine 
publicly :  and  the  lordly  bishop  also  might  have  his  concubine  publicly :  and  his 
Turkish  seragho  privately ! 

Will  any  priest  deny  this?  Will  any  man  who  has  read  the  pages  of  history 
venture  out  even  to  question  this  ?  No  ;  it  was  even  enacted  oublicl}-  and  unblush- 
in^ly  by  the  council  of  Toledo  :  and  what  is  more,  ratified  by  Pope  Leo  of  that  day. 
I  appeal  to  history.  See  Binii  ConciUa.  torn.  i.  p.  737  and  739.  Crabb.  Concil. 
torn.  i.  p.  449.  edit,  of  1551.  Pidiou  Corp.  Jur.  canon,  p.  47.  These  councils 
indeed,  went  so  far  as  to  prohibit  the  holy  priests  ''from  keeping  more  than  orw  con- 
cubine."'' Thus,  by  an  ecclesiastical  law,  sanctioned  by  a  pope,  tl.e  marriage  of  a 
priest  was  declared  a  "mortal  sin:"  but  fornication  was  taught,  practised,  and  recom- 
mended by  the  priests,  bishops,  cardinals,  and  popes!  And  what  must  have  been  the 
morals  of  laymen  ?     See  Canisius,  Thes.  Tom.  u.  p.  111.  Edgar,  p.  503. 

Suffer  me  to  quote  a  few  morsels  from  the  most  authentic  Roma.:  authors,  in  proof 
of  this  point  ?  And  I  beg  to  quote  them,  for  the  sake  of  my  felJow  citizens.  Avho 
have  actually  sent,  and  do  still  send  their  daughters  to  nunneries  and  Romish  semi- 
naries, for  education.  I  implore  them  to  study  the  pruaciples  and  morals  of  these 
European  Jesuits,  who  guide  their  children's  education  and  morals.  And  one  word 
more  :  remember  that  the  lav/s  and  sentiments  I  quote  are  yet  in  full  force,  believed, 
taught,  and  practised,  this  day,  among  us,  in  their  colleges  and  nunneries.  And  I 
challenge  all  the  Jesuits  in  the  land,  to  detect  a  false  quotation,  or  disprove  aught  I 
shall  advance.  Costerus  teaches  that  "  a  priest  sins,  if  he  commit  lornication  ;  he  sins 
more  heinously  if  he  marries!"  Cardinal  Campeggio  taught  that  "a  priest  who 
marries,  commits  a  more  grievous  transgression  than  if  he  kept  many  concubines." 
See  Costerus,  cap.  15.  Carapeg.  in  Sleidan  p.  96  ;  and  Thuan.  Hist.  u.  p.  417.     The 


ROMA.V    CATHOLIC    CO.NTROVERST.  189 

Consequences  of  these  doctrines  were  horrible.  Your  own  St.  Bernard  in  the  twelfth 
century,  declares  to  the  world,  that  "bishops  and  priests  committed,  in  secret,  such  acts 
of  turpitude  as  u  would  be  even  scandalous  to  express  I"  See  Bern,  in  Con.  Rhem, 
1728.  And  Agrippa,  in  Bayle,  i.  tells  us  of  a  Romish  bishop  who  boasted  on  one 
occasion,  of  having  in  his  diocese,  eleven  thousand  priests  who  paid  him,  each,  one 
guinea,  annually,  for  a  papal  license  to  keep  a  concubine  I  Clemangis,  your  own 
famous  A\Titer,  and  an  honest  reprover  of  your  priests'  vices,  declares  "the  adulter\', 
impiety,  and  obscenity  of  the  priests  to  be  beyond  all  description!"  "They  crowd 
into  houses  of  ill  fame,"  says  he,  "  the}'  spend  their  time  in  taverns,  in  eating,  gam- 
bling, drinking,  revelling,  and  dancing.  These  sacerdotal  sensualists  fought,  roared, 
rioted,  and  blasphemed  God  and  the  saints.  And  from  the  company  of  infamous 
women,  they  would  pass  to  the  altar,  and  the  mass  1"  "  To  veil  a  woman  in  those 
days,  or  make  a  nun  of  her,  was  synonymous  with  prostituting  her, — c'est  la  prosti- 
tuer."  See  Clemangis  26,  Lenfan.  i.  70,  and  Bruy,  Tom.  iii.  p.  610,  611.  And 
And  Mezera}^  says  of  the  Romish  clergy  before  the  Reformation,  that  they  were  nearly 
all  fornicators  and  drunkards."  "  They  held  their  offices  in  taverns,  and  spent  their 
money  in  debaucheries."     Mez.  Hist,  de  France,  Tom.  iv.  p.  490.     Edgar,  p.  511. 

The  council  of  Valladolid  say  of  the  Spanish  priests,  that,  "prodigal  of  character 
and  salvation,  the  clergy  led  lives  of  enormity  and  profligacy  in  public  concubinage."" 
See  Labb.  vol.  xv.  p.  247.  This  declai-ation  was  renewed  in  the  council  of  Toledo, 
in  1473.  See  Labb.  vol.  xix.  p.  369,  and  Binii  Coucil.  vol.  viii.  p.  957. — Gildas  and 
Fordun  have  frankly  unveiled  the  Roihish  priests  of  England.  Eves  in  "the  sixth 
century  the  British  priests,"  says  he,  "were  a  confraternity  of  the  filthiest  forni- 
cators !"  See  Gildas  Epist.  23^  38.  Oxford  edit.  1691.  And  Fordun  gives  us  king 
Edgar's  description  of  them  in  the  close  of  the  tenth  centnr\'.  "  The  clerg\-,"  said 
the  king  to  their  face,  "  are  lasci\-ious  in  dress,  insolent  in  manner,  and  filthy  in 
conversation.  Their  time  they  devote  to  revels,  debaucheries,  and  abominations; 
and  their  abodes  are  the  haunts  of  harlots!"  So  much  for  his  majesty's  opinioB 
of  the  Romish  sanctity !  See  Fordun  cap.  30,  and  Bruy  ii.  219.     Edgar  p.  512. 

We  have  an  extraordinary- anecdote  to  illustrate  the  '' holiness^'  of  the  Spanish 
priests  in  the  fifteenth  century'.  Their  revolting  impurities  awakened  the  zeal  of  even 
popes  Paul,  Pius,  and  Gregory !  These  issued  their  bulls  against  the  priestly  "  se- 
ducers." These  bulls  compelled  the  Inquisition  to  take  the  matter  up :  and  the 
*•  holy  inquisitors"  summoned  the  attendance  of  all  the  frail  fair  ones  who  had  been 
assailed  by  these  sons  of  Belial,  and  of  Sodom.  It  made  a  terrible  commotion.  Maids 
and  matrons,  nobles  and  peasants,  flocked  in  numbers  incredible,  to  lodge  informa- 
tion. You  may  fonn  some  idea  of  the  extent  of  ''priestly  holiness  and  yurity,''  from 
the  numbers  of  the  fair  informers  at  the  single  city  of  Seville.  All  the  inquisitors 
and  their  officers,  with  twenty  notaries,  were  employed  for  thirty  days  in  taking  down 
the  depositions.  The  number  crowding  in,  was  not  a  whit  abated:  they  took  thirty 
days  more,  three  several  times !  But  there  was  no  end  to  the  business!  The  patience 
of  even  Inquisitors  could  not  get  through  it.  What  was  tlie  result  ?  Just  what  might 
have  been  expected,  when  the  inquiry  on  such  a  matter  was  committed  to  priests  and 
bishops  !  "  He  that  was  without  the  sin,"  wished  to  go  on.  But  the  bench  of  priests, 
and  bishops,  and  notaries,  was  deserted  !  "  The  multitude  of  fair  criminals,"  says 
my  author,  "  and  the  jealousy  of  husbands,  and  above  all,  the  overvshelming  odium 
thrown  upon  auricular  confession,  and  the  poi)ish  priesthood,  caused  the  "  holy  tri- 
punal"  to  quash  the  prosecution,  and  destroy  all  the  depositions  I"     See  Gonsal.  185. 


190  ROMAN    CATHOLIC     CONTROVERSY. 

Lorent.  Hist,  of  the  Inquis.  p.  355.  Limborch,  Lib.  iii.  p.  17.  and  Edgar's"  Var.  p^ 
513. 

There  is  one  prominent  attribute  in  popery,  which  marks  itself  in  perfect  opposition 
to  Christianity.  The  latter,  just  in  proportion  to  its  extent  and  influence,  promotes 
virtue  and  purity.  But  popery,  just  in  proportion,  to  its  extent,  and  the  influence  of 
the  priesthood,  promotes  the  most  revolting  impurity,  and  universal  pollution !  Be- 
hold Rome,  and  Italy,  and  Naples,  this  day  ;  and  next  to  these,  Spain  ?nd  Portugal ! 
They  are  one  vast  temple  of  Astarte,  and  Venus  !  The  land  of  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah was  inhabited  by  virtuous,  decent,  and  orderly  people,  compared  with  the 
priests  and  nuns  of  those  lands  of  poper}'^  personified!  "  The  Lateran  palace  of  the 
pope,"  says  Labbeus,  XI.  p.  881.  "which  had  been  a  sanctuary  of  virtue,  has  been 
turned  into  a  brothel."  A  council  convicted  one  of  the  popes,  namely,  John  XII.  of 
fornication,  murder,  adultery,  and  incest!  See  Labb.  XI.  p.  882.  Tliuyn  i.  215.  and 
Platina  132. 

The  council  of  Lyons,  in  which  was  assembled  the  chief  of  the  bishops  and  cardi- 
nals of  the  Homish  church,  converted  that  city  into  one  great  temjile  of  pollution. 
M.  Paris  p.  792.  has  recorded  the  speech  which  Cardinal  Hugo  had  tlie  unblushing 
impudence  to  pronounce  to  the  citizens  after  the  council  was  dissolved.  "Your 
city,"  said  the  '' holy  and  chaste  'priest,'"  contained  only  three  houses  of  ill-fame, 
when  "the  holy  Synod"  met  here.  Now  there  is  only  one!  But,  that  one  compre- 
hends the  whole  cit}^  between  the  East  gate,  and  the  West  gate  !"'  See  also  Edgar 
p.  516.  The  "  Holy  council  of  Constance  was  attended,"  says  your  own  approved 
writers,  "  by  fifteen  hundred  infamous  females."  See  Labb.  Vol.  XVI.  p.  14-35.  and 
Bruy  IV.  39.  " These  trained  bands,"  saj^s  Edgar,  "were  the  companions  of  the 
infallible  doctors,  who  made  speeches  in  defence  of  popery,  and  burned  the  heretics 
John  Huss,  and  Jerome  of  Prague. 

In  the  council  of  Basil,  it  was  publicly  avowed,  and  maintained  by  argument,  by 
Carlery,  your  famous  chamjnon,  that  infamous  houses  were  necessary,  and  proper, 
and  a  source  of  great  revenue !  No  man  will  venture  to  deny  this  quotation.  Let 
him  see  the  fact  stated  in  Labbeus,  Concil.  Vol.  XVII.  pp.  986.  988.  Venice  edit,  of 
1728.  See  also  Canisius,  Thesaur.  vol.  IV.  p.  457.  Antwerp  edit.  1726.  And  every 
person  acquainted  with  the  elements  of  Romish  history,  knows  that  pope  Paul  III. 
who  convoked  the  far-famed  council  of  Trent,  made  no  scruples  of  availing  himself  of 
the  revenue  that  could  be  raised  from  licensed  houses  of  infamy !  .And  as  45,000  of 
these  infamous  persons  were  receiving  the  protection  of  his  "holy"  apostolical  licen- 
ces, his  revenue  from  this  source  was  very  great!  See  McGavin's  Glasgow  Protest- 
ant, ch.  15.     These  licenses  continue  under  "his  Holiness'  "  care  to  this  day! 

But  it  is  not  from  this  revolting  sin  alone  that  "  Holy  Mother"  draws  her  revenues. 
She  has  traded,  and  does  actually  trade  in  all  sins.  In  the  far  famed  book  called 
"The  Taxes  of  the  Apostolical  Chancery,"  the  prices  of  each  class  of  sin  are  laid 
down.  And  let  no  Roman  catholic  priest,  or  layman  expose  his  Jesuitisn"'  and  igno- 
rance, by  denying  the  existence  of  this  book.  Editions  of  it  were  sent  out  from  Rome 
in  1514:  from  Cologn  in  1515;  at  Paris  in  1520;  in  1545;  and  in  1625.  It  is  still 
in  the  libraries  of  the  curious  in  Europe.  It  has  been  fully  quoted  by  the  "  Morning 
Exercises,"  4to.  Edit,  of  1675  London.  And  your  own  well  known  author  Claud 
D'Espense  in  his  comment  on  Titus,  cap.  1.  digr.  2.  p.  479,  makes  this  mention  of  it. 
*'  It  is  a  wonder  that  this  filthy  index  (the  Taxa  Concellariae)  the  pope's  tax  book, 
has  not  been  suppressed :  there  is  not  a  book  more  to  their  reproach  :  in  it  a  price  i% 


ROMAN   CATHOLIC   CONTROVERSTj  191 

^et  to  all  buyers."  And  finally  the  Protestant  princes  at  the  Reformation,  made  pub- 
lic mention  of  it,  and  inserted  it  in  their  statement  of  the  causes  why  they  rejected  the 
council  of  Trent. 

From  this  au  hentic  tax  book,  I  shall  present  a  specimen  of  the  "holy  priest's" 
traffic,  and  his  prices  of  sin.  In  papal  refinement  of  sin,  the  prices  are  fixed  either 
for  sins  aboui  to  be  designedly  committed, — and  this  is  called  an  Indulgence  :  or,  they 
are  paid  for  sins  past, — and  that  is  called  Absolution. 

Extracts  from  "  Taxa  Cancellarue  Apostolica^^^ 
OR  His  Holiness'  tax  book  ; 
Being  a  list  of  sins  pardoned,  and  their  orthodox  prices,  in  British  money. 

For  a  layman  killing  a  layman,  £ 

For  killing  a  father,  mother,  wife,  or  sister. 
For  laying  violent  hands  on  a  priest,  without  breaking  the  skin. 
For  a  priest  to  marry,  no  money  can  buy  it,  but  to  keep  a  concubine, 

from  one  guinea  to 
To  eat  meat  in  Lent  (as  bad  as  the  murder  of  a  father  or  a  mother,) 
For  a  Queen  to  adopt  a  child, 
To  procure  abortion. 

For  taking  a  false  oath  in  a  criminal  case, 
For  robbing,  or  burning  a  house. 
For  violating  a  maid. 
For  incest,  with  sister  or  mother, 

Behold  the  impcnng  claims  of  sanctity,  admirably  demonstrated  !  And  we  are 
not  copying  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  dark  ages.  Popery  never  changes 
TO  THE  BETTER !  This  is  the  immutable  law  of  its  nature !  And  no  well  informed 
man,  nor  any  who  has  travelled  in  popish  countries,  needs  to  be  told  this.  Men  who 
read  not  on  thi:i  subject,  and  who  think  less,  and  those  who  have  none  of  the  genu- 
ine Roman  cataolic  books,  but  who  draw  some  superficial  views,  from  some  of  their 
amiable  and  liberal  cathohc  neighbors,  and  friends,  are  seen  to  labor  under  fatal  mis- 
takes in  this  matter,  Tliey  believe  the  Romish  sect  to  be  improved  and  reformed! 
My  humble  prayer  to  God  is,  that  He  would  open  their  eyes,  and  convince  them  of 
their  error.  I  declare  with  deep  solemnity  ;  and  I  appeal  to  ancient  and  modern  his- 
tory, for  evidence, — (hat  the  popery  of  Rome  never  has  altered,  never  can  alter  for  the 
better,  without  being  destroyed  and  annihilated.  The  Romish  church  claims  immuta- 
bility and  ir.fallibihty.  She  appeals  to  God ;  and  says  she  never  has  erred  :  never 
committed  deadly  sins :  never  has  changed  :  never  has  reformed :  nor  has  ever  need- 
ed reformation  ! 

Every  man  who  has  been  in  Italy,  in  Spain,  in  Portugal,  in  Smtzerland,  in  South 
America,  and  Mexico,  has  seen  this  inscription  on  the  fronts  of  the  various  churches, 
even  to  this  day, — "  Plenary  indulgences  sold  here,^^  at  such  and  such  prices.  Again— 

"The  bishop  of ^ sells  indulgences  here  at" — such  and  such  low  prices.     "An 

English  gentleman,"  said  my  friend  Dr.  Avery,  "was  with  me  at  Naples:  and  on 
reading  the  sign  over  the  Indulgence  shop,  he  went  in  and  gravely  purchased  for  a 
small  sura,  an  indulgence  to  do  any  sin  for  one,  hundred  days  I 


0 

7  6 

0  10  6 

0  10  6 

0  10  6 

0  10  6 

)0 

0  0 

0 

7  6 

0 

9  0 

0  12  0 

0 

9  0 

0 

7  6 

192  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

I  would  beg  those  men  %vho  think  so  favorably  of  modern  popery,  to  read  Dr. 
Moor's  Tour  in  Europe ;  and  Graham's  Rome  in  the  19th  century.  I  refer  to  Rome 
as  it  is,  a  Tour  in  Italy,  by  Miss  Morion :  she  finds  and  pronounces  Italy  a  large 
nation  of  Atheists  !     Also  Lady  Morgan's  Rome  in  the  19th  century. 

In  South  America,  the  morals  of  the  priests  are  as  bad  as  they  were,  and  still  are, 

in   Spain.     My  friend  Capt.  M ,  has  seen  them  "in  their  rohes  at  the  cock-pit, 

bull  baiting,  drinking,  gambling,  and  involved  in  every  possible  licentiousness  pub- 
licly and  unblushingly,  as  if  there  were  no  sin  in  any  thing  they  could  do  /"  And 
one  most  atrocious  attribute  of  modern  priestcraft  is  this ; — they  sin  with  men  and 
women,  over  the  whole  catalogue  of  the  ten  commandments ;  and  then  at  the  close 
of  the  crimes,  they  will  solemnly  pronounce,  on  the  victims  of  their  seductions,  their 
priestly  pardon  and  absolution  for  the  sins  then  and  there  committed!  We  may 
gravely  question  if  even  Satan  himself,  were  he  to  walk  forth  in  a  visible  form,  in 
his  robes  of  diabolical  concealment,  could  invent  more  impious  mockery  of  religion, 
or  show  a  degree  of  atheism  at  all  greater  than  this ! 

Such  are  the  doctrines,  discipline,  and  practice  of  the  Jesuits,  who  now  swarm 
over  our  land,  and  are  opening  colleges,  and  seminaries,  and  are  offering  to  teach 
our  sons  and  daughters.  And,  Protestants,  will  you, — can  you  bid  them  God  speed  '? 
Has,  then,  judgment  fled  from  Protestants,  and  enlightened  politicians,  to  brutish 
beasts  !  Have  men  lost  their  reason  ?  "To  veil  a  daughter,  or  put  her  into  a  nunnery," 
says  even  a  Romish  author,  just  quoted  by  us, — "  is  the  same  thing  as  to  prostitute 
her!"  And  no  father  or  mother  can  rise  up  from  the  perusal  of  the  true, — alas!  too 
true  narrative  of  "Lorette,  the  history  of  the  daughter  of  a  Canadian  nun," — with- 
out a  deep  conviction  of  the  modern,  and  ever  unchanging  infamies  of  priestcraft  and 
popery !  And  what  parent  who  wishes  not  to  murder  the  peace,  and  the  very  soul 
of  his  child,  could  be  tempted  so  far  from  parental  duty,  as  to  send  his  daughter  for 
education,  into  the  atrocious  haunts  of  a  nunnery !  What !  can  a  father  be  so  lost  as 
to  place  a  sweet,  innocent,  unsuspecting  daughter  within  the  very  fangs  and  grasp  of 
the  Jesuits !  Would  to  God  I  could  open  your  eyes  to  view  this  matter  as  christian 
parents  should  view  it.  These  European  Jesuits,  and  their  partisans,  initiated  into 
the  deep  and  damning  policy  of  Rome,  preside  over  these  seminaries,  which  spread 
traps  for  you,  and  them.  They  carry  over  sea  with  them,  all  these  doctrines,  and 
immoral  practices,  which  I  have  been  unveiling.  What !  can  you  barter  the  purity 
and  innocence  of  your  sweet  and  amiable  daughters,  and  sons  ?  What  i  in  the  name 
of  mercy,  will  you  immolate  the  souls  of  these  dear  and  immortal  beings,  whom  God 
has  given  you  ?  Can  you  have  a  doubt  remaining,  after  all  the  quotations  made, 
touching  the  real  policy  and  designs  of  popery,  and  of  those  men,  on  whom  every 
government  of  Europe  has  uttered  the  ban  of  an  universal  curse  and  execration?  In 
the  name  of  the  God  of  truth  and  mercy,  let  me  lift  my  pleading  voice  to  utter  this 
my  solemn  warning  to  you,  one  and  all !  I  do  earnestly  declare  unto  you,  that  it  will 
be  discovered  by  you,  when  it  is  too  late,  that  those  who  place  their  daughters  and 
sons  in  the  haunts  of  such  m.onsters  of  vice  as  the  Jesuits  are, — are  far  less  ten- 
der hearted  than  the  Hindoo  who  sacrificed  her  child  to  Gunga !  Or  the  wretch 
who  placed  the  smiling  babe  in  the  red  hot  arms  of  the  image  of  Moloch !  These 
destroy  the  body :  those  poison  the  soul  with  the  venom  of  the  worm  of  the  second 
death ! 

So  much  for  the  claims  of  holiness,  facetiously  set  up  by  the  partisans  of  intriguing 
priests,  and  their  church.     Our  laughter  at  these  pretensions  to  holiness,  is  checked 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  193 

ouly  by  the  bitter  conviction  forced  on  us,  that  under  these  unnatural  claims,  they 
conceal  a  deadly  conspiracy  against  virtue,  morals,  and  religion ! 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  yours  respectfully, 

W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  V. 

TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

"  An  Petrus  Romae  fuerit,  sub  judice  lis  est : 
Simonem  Ronite,  nemo  fuisse  negat !" 

"  We  are  not  sure  that  Peter  ever  sat 

In  Rome  :  but  Simon  did, — we're  sure  of  that !" 

Prov.  of  the  IGth  century- 

Fellow-Citizens, — It  is  one  of  our  privileges,  as  citizens  of  this  republic,  and  one 
of  pre-eminent  importance,  that  we,  the  people,  claim  and  exercise  the  right  of  watch- 
ing our  public  servants.  We  inspect,  and  decide  upon  their  public  character,  and 
official  conduct  with  freedom,  and  independence.  The  constitution  and  legitimate 
laws  are  the  rule  and  standard,  by  which  we  require  them  to  regulate  their  conduct 
in  public  life.  If  they  recede  from  the  spirit  of  these,  and  seek  their  own  aggrandize- 
ment, and  sacrifice  the  patriotic  virtues,  and  the  public  good,  on  the  altar  of  personal 
interests,  and  ambition,  we  consign  them  promptly,  by  our  legal  vote,  to  the  obscurity 
of  private  hfe.     This  is  our  birthright ;  and  it  is  unalienable. 

Now,  what  should  we  think  of  any  political,  or  military  officer,  who  would  tell  the 
people,  they  have  no  right  to  think  for  themselves  on  politics :  no  right  to  elect  their 
public  servants :  no  right  to  dictate  to  them :  but  that  they  who  have  clunbed  into 
office,  it  may  be,  by  iniquitous  means,  have  the  sole  prerogative  of  appointing  men 
to  all  offices  in  the  state  ?  In  a  word,  that  the  servants  of  the  people  are  above  control, 
and  accountable  to  none  ;  that  they  are  every  thing,  that  the  people  are  nothing,  and 
as  the  dust  under  theirfeet  ?  No  republican,— no  honest  man  could  endure  this  cant 
of  the  old  world's  despotism.  Yet  this,  you  know,  is  the  identical  despotism  of  everj^ 
Roman  catholic  government  of  Europe.  And  its  galling  chains  are  rivetted,  just  in 
proportion  to  the  power  and  influence  of  Catholicism  pervading  the  souls  of  a  bru- 
talized people.  Canyon,  fellow  citizens,  look  without  disgust  and  horror,  upon  this 
state  of  things  ?  Is  your  gratitude  to  this  republic,  so  small  that  you  would  not  dis- 
countenance, and  put  down  the  knaves,  who  would  sap  our  free  institutions,  and 
bring  back  upon  you  and  upon  us,  this  degradation,  and  despotism  of  European 
catholics  ? 

But  are  politics  so  far  superior  to  religion?  Are  the  interests  of  time  so  far  exalted 
above  those  of  eternity  ?  Is  it  gallant  and  glorious  to  vindicate  civil  rights,  while 
you  allow  the  revolting  ghostly  despotism  of  the  dark  ages,  still  to  crush  your  immor- 
tal souls  in  the  dust  ?  Will  you  spurn  from  you  the  edicts  of  civil  tyrants,  and  kiss 
the  hands  of  the  wretched  minions  of  Antichrist,  who  urge  their  claims  to  rule  over 
your  souls,  bodies,  and  property,  with  the  iron  mace  of  a  Hildebrand !  Ytuir  priests 
not  only  allow  of  no  liberty  of  conscience,  but  unblushingly  laugh  it  to  scorn !  They 
tell  you,  that  you  have  no  right  to  read  the  holy  Bible  :  that  you  must  not  hear  your 
Maker  speak,  except  through  the  priest's  mutterlngs  :    that  if  you  dare  to  think  on 

18 


104  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

religion,  or  even  to  speak  to  God,  or  even  breathe  a  vow  to  him  in  any  other  wa^^ 
than  as  the  priest  shall  frame  it,  and  offer  it  up  for  money,  you  commit  a  mortal  sie'! 
Your  bishop  declares  to  priests  and  people  that  he  is  lord  absolute  over  you  all :  that- 
vou  have  no  right  to  choose  j'our  own  spiritual  guides  :  no  right  to  choose  your  officia- 
ting ministers  in  the  chapels,  which  you  rear  !  He  dictates  his  own  favorites  to  you  : 
and  tells  you  that  you  have  no  right  from  man  or  from  God,  to  refuse.  This  you  see 
outrageously  practised  every  day  in  this  free  republic ;  and  land  of  clear  christian 
light,  and  liberty !  We  behold  the  darkness  and  horrors  of  the  tenth  century  in  free 
and  enlightened  America !  And  of  a  Sabbath  day,  the  priest,  before  he  can  ascend 
the  desk  to  officiate,  must  throw  himself  down  on  his  knees  in  the  dust,  and  adore  the 
bishop  and  kiss  his  hand,  and  worship  the  image  of  the  absent  pope,  in  the  august 
person  of  the  bishop  who  represents,  in  our  republic,  the  intruding  and  usurped 
]iower  of  a  foreign  despot  I  This  you  see  the  devout  and  holy  priest  Levins  do  in  St. 
Patrick's  chapel,  from  sabbath  to  sabbath  !  Is  this  the  deportment  of  freemen  ?  Is 
this  the  Christian  religion  ?  Is  this  becoming  the  dignity  of  reasonable  men  ?  Is  this 
not  degrading,  like  the  superstition  of  pagans  ?  Is  it  not  unspeakably  worse  than  the 
degradation  of  Turks !  How  long,  I  beseech  you,  will  you  lick  the  ghostly  tyrant^s 
foot  ?  How  long  will  noble  and  immortal  beings  be  the  crushed  down  vassals  of  a  for- 
eign antichristian  tyranny  ? 

I  have,  in  my  preceding  Letter,  set  before  you,  fellow  citizens,  the  moral  character 
of  your  priesthood,  from  the  humblest  even  to  the  pope.  And  their  moral  pollution, 
which  we  were  constrained  to  unveil  frankly,  is  not  the  result  of  human  infirmity 
merely ;  or  adventitious  circumstances  alone.  It  is  necessarily  engendered  by  the  es- 
sential elements  of  popery.  Auricular  confession  and  priestly  celibacy  ever  have 
covered,  and  ever  will  cover  the  Romish  church,  with  a  flood  of  pollution  ;  and 
will  drovrn  it  in  perdition.  And,  fellow  citizens,  has  it  never  occurred  to  you,  how 
minutely  your  priests  have  fulfilled,  unintentionally,  the  prediction  uttered  from  the 
Holy  Ghost,  in  the  Bible?  See  1  Tim.  iv.  .3.  The  apostates  from  the  truth  were  not 
only  to  depart  after  "the  doctrines  of  demons," — that  is, — the  worship  of  demons 
and  departed  souls;  but  were  to  be  noted  ''by  their  forbidding  to  marry. '^  And, 
moreover,  the  great  aposlacy  of  Babylon  was  by  inspiration,  called  "  the  mother  of 
harlots  and  abominations.''  In  no  other  apostate  christian  church  or  sect,  in  all  the 
world,  is  "  marriage  forbidden,''  but  by  your  priesthood  and  in  3"our  church  ;  and  in 
no  pagan  land,  know  we  of  such  a  systematic  course  of  deep  and  damning  pollution, 
as  in  your  church's  monastaries,  and  nunneries,  and  at  the  confessional! 

From  a  sketch  of  this  revolting  immorality,  I  pass,  v^dth  your  leave,  to  exhibit  the 
DOCTRINES  taught  in  your  priests'  books,  colleges,  and  seminaries.  I  thus  pass  from 
the  streams  which  flow,  like  the  waves  of  the  second  death,  over  your  church,  to  un- 
veil the  great  fountains  thereof.  The  main  one  is  the  infamous  code  of  ethics  taught 
bv  your  Jesuit  priests.  And  I  quote  these  to  open,  if  possible,  your  eyes  to  the  infamy 
of  Your  spiritual  guides ;  and  to  awaken  the  slumbering  consciences  of  those  ill-in- 
formed Protestants,  who  send  their  children  to  Jesuit  seminaries.  And  may  the  God 
of  mercy  grant  that  our  solemn  warnings  may  be  the  means  of  putting  parents  on 
their  guard,  to  pluck  those  exposed  young  Protestants,  as  "  brands  from  the  devouring 
fires!" 

I  would  just  observe  that  the  order  of  Jesuits,  after  being  put  down,  and  deemed 
accursed  by  the  Christian  world;  and  expelled  from  every  government  in  Europe, 
was  revived  by  pope  Pius  VII.  in   1814.     He  took  them  under  his  special  care : 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  lOS 

placed  them  at  the  head  of  his  seminaries  and  colleges;  as  'instruments  most  capa- 
ble of  forming  youth  to  christian  piety  r  The  plain  meaning  of  which  is  this; 
that  all  other  men  had  some  remains  of  conscience  ;  but  the  troops  of  this  sect  were 
without  conscience,  and  could,  in  cold  blood,  teach  all  that  Rome  could  suggest ;  and 
practice  all  that  the  prince  of  darkness  could  require !  And  the  pope  after  settling 
them  as  his  chief  apostles,  closes  his  Bull  with  telling  the  world  that  "those,  who 
should  infringe  ui>on  this  Bull;  or  by  an  audacious  temerity  oppose,"  these  his  dear 
and  best  beloved  sons,  would  incur  "the  wrath  not  only  of  Almighty  God,  but  of 
St.  Peter  !"  These  are  the  men  who  are,  like  the  filthiest  plague  of  Egypt,  creep- 
in'^  up  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land:  and  are  threading  their  pathway  into 
our  schools,  and  nurseries,  and  bed-chambers  ! 

Their  constitution  is  strictly  ??ioHarc/iJo/.  A  general  or  prince,  is  chosen  over  them 
for  life  :  his  power  is  supreme,  and  universal :  to  him  every  member  of  the  Society 
must  submit  his  sentiments,  and  his  will:  to  his  injunctions  he  must  listen,  "as  if  they 
were  uttered  by  Christ  himself:'  "No  member  can  have  any  opinion  of  his  own: 
''and  the  Jesuit  Society  has  it^  prisons  independent  of  the  secular  authority P'  See 
Pascal's  Prov.  Letters,  p.  15.  N.  York  Edit.  Hence  those  dungeons  and  cells,  under 
their  chapels,  and  college  buildings,  which  any  one  may  see,  as  their  buildings  go  up  : 
and  which  have  been  so  accurately  and  publicly  noticed  by  the  late  veteran  Lorenzo 
Dow,  in  his  appeal  to  the  American  pubhc  on  this  matter. 

The  doctrines  taught  by  these  men,  in  the  Romish  books,  and  seminaries,  are  calcu- 
lated to  give  a  death  blow  to  civil  liberty,  as  well  as  to  our  holy  religion.  In  tlie  opin- 
ion of  all  the  eminent  political  men,  of  all  the  governments  of  Europe,  their  senti- 
ments, instilled  into  their  pupils  and  devotees  at  confession,  were  more  fatal  to  the 
liberties  and  rights  of  mankind,  than  even  to  religion.  This  is  recorded  in  the  pages 
of  history.  "  Jesuitism  is  a  familiar  devil  who  enters  the  house,  crawling  in  the  dust: 
tmdends  by  commanding  with  lordly  haughtiness !''  This  graphic  delineation  I  copy 
from  the  late  admirable  w^ork  on  Jesuitism,  by  Mons.  De  Pradt,  the  Roman  catholic 
archbishop  of  Malints.  I  beg  leave  also  to  draw  your  attention  to  the  Arrtt  of  the 
ParUament  of  France,  issued  in  1762,  containing  a  statement  of  the  reasons  for  the 
extirpation  of  Jesuitism.  These  with  the  pontifical  reasons  of  the  pope  Ganganelli 
for  his  bold  measure  in  dissolving  the  society,  in  1772,  exhibit  in  their  true  hght,  this 
))and  of  conspirators  against  our  civil  and  religious  institutions, — the  curse  of  our  land, 
as  they  have  been  the  scourge  of  all  Europe  I 

The  first  tenet  of  their  creed  exalts  the  pope  to  a  monarchy,  "  unlimited  by  demo- 
cracy, or  by  aristocracy."  This  is  civil  and  spiritual:  he  claims  and  receives  homage 
as  much  as  a  civil  prince,  as  a  spiritual.  Dr.  Pise,  and  also  all  our  New- York 
priests  have  had  the  uhblushing  hardihood  to  deny  that  they  own  the  pope,  or  do  him 
homage,  as  a  temporal  prince!"  With  men  so  reckless  of  truth,  and  who,  availing 
tliemselves  of  the  Jesuit  doctrine  of  inental  reservation,  say  one  thing,  and  believe 
another,  it  were  needless  to  reason  on  this  point ;  and  folly  to  listen  to  what  they  say. 
They  know  as  accurately  as  any  well  read  Protestant  does,  that  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  claims  of  the  pope,  never  were  separated  for  the  benefit  of  American  Ro- 
man catholics.  They  know  that  these  claims  never  can  be  separated.  It  is  a  matter 
of  recorded  fact,  that  the  pope  clahns  power  over  the  bodies,  and  souls  of  all  men, 
Protestants,  as  well  as  catholics ;  and  over  all  Protestant,  and  non-Protestant  govern- 
ments !  The  Protestant  government  of  England,  and  of  the  United  States,  are  only 
rebels,  who  are  to  be  regaiaed  back  by  the  conversion  of  Jesuits,  or  by  force  of  arms 


196  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

in  due  time  !  In  the  solemn  belief  of  every  pope,  and  every  true  Roman  catholic, 
the  Protestant  kings  of  Holland,  and  England  have  no  more  right  to  reign  than  had 
the  excommunicated  Harry  VIII.,  and  Queen  Elizabeth!  In  the  solemn  belief  of 
the  pope  and  every  Jesuit,  our  protestant  and  venerable  chief  Magistrate,  has  no 
more  right  to  bear  the  reins  of  government,  than  Harry  VIII.  or  Queen  Elizabeth 
had  in  England !  The  fact  is,  every  protestant  prince,  every  protestant  President, 
subject,  and  citizen,  are  annually  excommunicated  at  Rome,  and  in  these  United 
States.  And  I  assert  in  the  face  of  the  most  unblushing  Jesuit,  and  before  the  Amer- 
ican community,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  the  most  notorious  evidence,  that  on  every 
Thursday  of  passion  week,  annually,  according  to  the  Bull,  In  caiia  Domi?ii,  our 
protestant  President,  and  all  our  protestant  magistrates,  governors,  and  every  pro- 
testant member  of  our  city  corporation,  are  publicly,  formally,  and  solemnly  excom- 
municated, cursed,  and  sent  to  hell  and  perdition,  in  every  Romish  chapel  in  the 
United  States!  But,  then,  it  is  pronounced  in  Latin,  and  not  generally  known. 
Every  priest  takes  "  an  oath  on  the  evangels,  and  the  cross"  to  do  this.  And  if  there 
be  one  of  them  that  can  have  the  assurance  to  deny  that  he  does  this,  then  he  is  by 
his  own  confession,  a  perjured  knave  !  I  shall  afterwards,  give  the  priest's  oath, 
and  this  Bull  of  "  universal  ban,  and  damnation,"  pronounced  by  the  foreign  tyrant, 
and  his  charitable,  holy,  and  christian  servants,  the  Romish  priests,  on  all  of  us, — our 
President,  governors,  and  the  whole  magistracy,  and  the  Protestant  people  of  these 
United  States. 

I  am,  vours  truly,  &c. 

W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  VI. 

TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

"The  scarlet  colored  whore  !  Avhose  priests  are  lords. 

Whose  coffers  held  the  gold  of  every  land  ; 

Who  held  a  cup  of  all  pollutions  full. 

And  with  a  double  horn  the  people  pushed  !" 

Pollok. 

Fellow  Citizens: — If  you  possess  truly  republican,  and  truly  religious  views 
and  feelings,  you  will  consider  that  man  your  best  friend  and  benefactor,  who  labors 
to  undermine  the  powet  of  priestcraft,  and  to  aid  in  achieving  your  liberty.  Yes, 
fellow  citizens,  you  v/ill  thank  me  for  raising  my  warning  voice,  and  assuring  you 
that  you  know  not  what  deadl}^  vipers  you  are  warming  and  cherishing  in  your 
unsuspecting  bosom  !  What  I  do  you  believe  that  a  Jesuit  priest  can  deem  himself 
bound  to  render  allegiance  and  obedience  to  magistrates  who  are  anathematized  by 
his  "Lord  God  on  earth,"  the  pope  ?  Can  any  citizen  be  so  weak,  or  so  ignorant  of 
human  nature,  as  to  believe  that  a  Jesuit  priest  will  teach  his  pupils,  or  his  devotees  at 
the  confessional,  to  own  a  government  made  up  of  protestants,  who  are  cursed,  and 
excommunicated  by  his  spiritual  dictator,  the  pope  ?  To  be  sure  they  will  not  con- 
fess this  :  they  would  not  be  Jesuits  if  they  admitted  it.  They  have  the  same  pro- 
found oath  of  secrecy  as  free  masons  had.  They  are  to  keep  the  secret  until  they 
gain  the  ascendency.  I  call  on  every  magistrate  of  the  land,  and  every  protestant 
fellow  citizen,  to  read  the  Secreta  Monita,  or  Secret  Instructions  of  the  Jesuits 
(Princeton  Edition  of  1831.)     We  are  indebted,  for  this  "terrible  book"  of  Jesuits' 


ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  197 

secrets,  to  the  parliament  of  Paris.  They  passed  the  act  to  aboUsh  the  Jesuits,  in 
secrecy;  and  the  execution  came  on  the  Jesuit  college  like  a  thunder  stroke.  Their 
palace  was  surrounded  by  troops,  and  their  papers  and  books,  and  these  "-Secret  hi- 
st rue' ions''  were  seized  before  they  had  heard  that  the  parliament  had  taken  up  their 
cause  ! 

Now  hear  their  own  words  by  which  they  teach  their  pupils  in  the  United  States 
the  absolute  supremacy  of  the  foreign  despot,  the  pope.  "The  pope,  speaking  froni 
his  chair,  is  exempt  from  all  ignorance,  error,  and  mistake."  See  Dupin  Disserta- 
tions, p.  333:  Bellarmine,  iv.  1,  15,  and  v.  9.  And  Labb.  vol.  xiv.  p.  1428.  Edgar 
p.  157.  They  are  in  the  habit  of  calling  the  pope  "Our  Lord  God,'' — not  merely  a 
'■'■god,"  as  magistrates  are  sometimes  called  :  but  "Our  Lord  God."  And  even  on 
their  own  explanation,  they  call  him  "  a  god,"  as  a  magistrate, — here  is  a  public 
admission  that  they  own  that  foreign  ruler  in  his  temporal  and  civil  power.  And 
hence  no  Roman  catholic,  strictly  so  called,  can  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  our 
constitution  and  government,  ivithout  mental  reservation,  or  falsehood,  and  perjury  / 
I  appeal  to  our  professional  men  of  every  denomination. 

I  shall  give  only  one  quotation  farther.  The  following  homage  to  the  pope,  was 
expressed  by  an  archbishop,  in  the  council  of  the  Lateran,  in  the  hearing  and 
presence  of  pope  Leo  X.  And  hence  it  has  the  sanction  of  a  pope,  and  a  council ;  and 
it  is^  in  the  belief  of  every  true  Roman  catholic,  of  equal  authority  with  the  holy 
Bible  !  The  homage  was  this: — "The  pope  has  power,  supra  omnes  potestates  tarn 
ccbU,  quani  terra, — above  all  the  powers  of  heaven,  as  well  as  of  earth!"  Nay  he 
professes  to  do  what  God  himself  does  not, — and  cannot  do.  In  "  the  mass"  he  and 
his  priesthood  profess  to  create  their  Creator!  Out  of  a  wafer,  they  make  God! 
Now,  the  Most  High  never  created,  never  could  create  himself!!  And  thus  the 
instructions  taught  in  our  Jesuit  seminaries,  are  an  unparallelled  compound  of  cruel 
ghostly  despotism,  and  blasphemy!  Can  the  most  resolute  infidel  in  all  the  land, 
can  the  christian  magistrate^  or  a  christian  citizen  be  persuaded  to  hazard  his  chil-. 
dren  in  the  seminaries,  and  under  the  instruction  of  such  teachers!  Whosoever  he  be 
tliat  does  tliis,  with  his  eyes  open  to  v/hat  every  one  cannot  but  see,  must  be  pro- 
nounced an  enemy  to  God,  a  traitor  to  his  country,  and  the  destroyer  of  his  children's 
innocence,  and  their  immortal  souls ! 

I  shall  now  present  you  with  a  specimen  of  the  moral  doctrines  of  your  priests. 
These  correspond,  in  all  points,  to  their  theological  tenets.  iEneas  Silvius,  after^ 
wards  pope  Pius  ii.  says  in  his  Epist.  26  :  "  Nihil  est  quod,  ^-c.  There  is  notliing 
which  the  Roman  court  does  not  give  for  money:  "it  sells  the  imposition  of  hands,** 
(the  ordination  of  priests.  Alas  ! — then,  for  the  succession!)  "it  sells  the  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  the  pardon  of  sins  is  not  given  to  any  but  such  as  are  well-moniedi" 
And,  well  said  a  poet  of  their  own,  namely,  Mantuan,  Lib.  3.  "All  things  are  salcabla 
at  Rome, — temples,  priests,  altars,  prayers,  heaven, — yea  God  himself,"  in  the  iiass, 
to  wit, — "  are  all  for  sale  !"  And  hence  the  standing  miracle  at  Rome  which  i)riest]y 
modesty  strangely  forgets  to  enumerate  in  the  "  miracles  of  the  saints."  By  the  sale 
of  her  trijle^  such  as  the  sight  of  relics,  and  her  prayers,  and  her  indulgencies,  and  the 
pardons,  she  possesses  the  power  of  converting  lead  and  fmthers  into  solid  gold!  Tlie 
greatest,  and,  in  fact,  the  only  unpardonable  sin  in  tlie  Romrn  church  is  poverty !  If 
you  have  only  money  you  can  buy  the  best  seat  in  heaven,  nnd  the  sauggest  joys  of 
all  paradise  !  If  you  have  no  money,  you  can  get  nothing,  not  even  a  drop  of  water 
to  cool  the  tongue  !    And  what  is  really  inhuman, — if  the  priest  knows  your  poveriyj 

18* 


198  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

he  has  not  the  bowels  of  compassion  enough  to  pray  you  out  of  purgatory ;  although 
by  his  own  testimony,  it  would  cost  him  only  a  single  word  of  his  mouth ! !  This  is 
the  first  article  in  the  code  of  his  ethics.  The  most  horridly  immoral  thing  is  poverty} 
"The  poor  cannot  be  comforted!" 

"As  the  Jesuit's  morality  is  entirely  pagan,"  says  Pascal,  Letter  V.,  "nature  is  a 
suflficient  guide  to  them."  x\nd  nature  does  guide  them  with  a  vengeance !  The 
force  of  this  doctrine  of  probable  opinio7i  is  wonderful.  If  a  man  be  in  a  dilemma 
about  duty :  this,  for  instance,  appears  vice  ;  that^  again,  is  virtue  :  or  this,  at  another 
rime,  seems  virtue,  that,  a  vice.  To  relieve  him,  he  requires  no  more  than  "the 
PROBABLE  opinion"  of  some  one.  And  to  comfort  him,  the  opinion  of  even  one 
grave  doctor,  "will  make  an  opinion  probable!  And  be  it  ever  so  wrong  and  im- 
moral, if  he  only  follow  the  probable  opinion,  it  is  saintly  purity,  it  is  true  virtue  I 
And  what  is  still  more  accommodating — should  two  grave  doctors  diflfer  on  the  point, 
and  each  of  them  declare  an  opinion;  why,  then,  each  of  "the  grave  doctors"  makes 
his  opinion  probable :  so  that  you  have  a  probable  opinion  on  both  sides.  And  in  that 
case,  the  way  is  clear,  whatever  law  or  gospel  say.  Take  either  side  you  please^ 
just  as  it  suits  your  own  views,  and  interest.  That  which  you  do  is  virtuous,  and  alto- 
gether right!  Hence  the  old  Jesuit  proverb ; — Saepe  premente  Deo,  fert  Deus  alter 
opem!  "If  one  god  press  hard  on  us,  another  god  brings  us  aid!"  That  is  to  say^ 
both  sides,  namely,  the  right,  and  the  wrong  are  both  right,— just  as  our  interest 
requires  it.  See  Pascal,  Prov.  Lett.  V.  And  what  is  very  marvellous  in  ethics, — 
if  a  person  following  a  pro6a&?e  opinion,  commits  an  enormous  sin,  the  priest  mwsf 
absolve  him,  even  though  the  priest  holds  an  opinion  utterly  the  reverse.  And  what 
is  more  still, — if  the  priest  refuses  this  boon,  he  is  himself  guilty  of  a  mortal  sin  I 
this  is  taught  by  Saurez,  Tom.  iv.  dist.  32.  sect,  5,  also  by  Vasquez,  Disput.  62,  cap. 
7.  and  by  Sanchez,  N.  29.  Pascal,  Lett.  V.  p.  79.  For  instance,  one  doctor  says, 
"thou  shalt  not  m.urder  in  any  case."  Another  grave  Jesuit  says,  "it  is  just  and 
useful  to  take  off  a  man,  like  Henry  IV.  of  France."  The  assassin  follows  this 
'*  probable  opinion,''  and  does  murder  him.  And  the  Jesuit  priest  is  bound,  under 
pain  of  a  "mortal  sin"  to  grant  absolution  to  the  assassin,  and  free  pardon,  and  an 
entrance  into  heaven :  while  he  is  conscious  that  he  deserves  the  pains  of  hell,  and  is 
actually  plunging  into  it ! ! 

Passing  by  others,  I  shall  quote  the  very  accommodating  principle  o^  ''  directing  the 
intention.'"  By  this  simple  expedient,  the  Jesuit  school  can  convert  an  immoral,  and 
even  an  atrocious  deed,  into  what  is  commendable.  For  instance,  a  man  may  fight  a 
duel,  and  kill  a  man;  providing  he  direct  his  intention  simply  to  retrieve  his  honor. 
He  fights  not  with  the  intention  to  kill,  but  to  do  a  service  to  himself.  In  hke  man- 
ner, a  man  may  kill  a  witness  whose  testimony  may  ruin  him.  To  take  away  the 
immorality  of  this  action,  he  has  only  to  intendhis,  own  good,  and  not  intend  to  murder 
even  lehile  he  kills !  This  has  been  taught  by  Reginaldus,  in  Praxi,  v.  21,  sect.  62, 
by  Lessius  De  Just.  Lib.  ii.  cap.  9,  by  Escobar,  Tr.  5,  Ex.  See  many  more  revolt- 
ing instances  in  Pascal,  Lett.  VII. 

I  shall  close  with  a  few  quotations  illustrating  other  branches  of  practical  morality, 
"A  man,"  says  one  of  your  most  respectable  moralists,  "who  makes  a  contract  of  mar- 
riage, is  dispensed,  by  any  motive,  from  accomplishing  his  promise."  Sanchez  Oper. 
Mor.  Decal.  pars.  2,  Lit.  3.  Again,—"  A  man  may  begin  his  testimony  with,  / 
swear  ;  he  can  add  this  mental  restriciion.  to  day,  in  a  whisper  he  may  repeat,  1  say ; 
and  then  resume  his  former  tone, — I  did  not  do  it  /"     See  Filiucius,  Quest.  Mor.  vol. 


ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  199 

lu  No.  328.  Again,  "  no  witness  is  bound  to  declare  the  truth,  before  a  lawful  judge 
iLf  his  deposition  will  injure  him,  or  his  posterity."  Taberna  vol.  ii.  cap.  31,  p.  288. 
"A  priest  may  equivocate  before  a  secular  judge; — because  such  a  judge  is  not  a 
lawful  competent  authority  to  receive  the  testimony  of  an  ecclesiastic  /''  See  Tambur. 
Lib.  3,  p.  27.  Again,  "  the  rebellion  of  Roman  prisets  is  not  treason,  because  they  are 
not  subject  to  the  civil  governmeiit.'"  See  Emman.  Sa,  Aphor.  p.  41.  And,  fellow 
citizens,  hear  the  words  of  the  Romish  favorite  Bellarmine,  De  Rom.  Pon.  in  Lib.  v. 
cap.  6,  p.  1094.  "The  sinritual  power  must  rule  the  temporal  by  ail  sort  of  means, 
and  all  expedients,  when  necessary.  Christians,''  that  means  with  them  R.  Catholics, 
"  should  not  tolerate  a  heretic  king!'"  Now,  every  Jesuit  priest  in  the  land,  believes 
and  acts  on  this,  when  he  has  the  power.  But  all  the  members  of  our  government 
do,  by  the  pope's  decision,  consist  of  heretics.  Hence  no  Jesuit,  and  none  of  his 
devotess  would  tolerate  our  government  for  one  day,  if  they  had  the  power ! 

Again,  "  aman  condemned  by  the  pope  maybe  killed  wherever  he  is  found."  See 
La  Croix,  vol.  i.  p.  594.  Again :  "  it  is  not  a  mortal  sin  to  steal  that  from  a  man 
which  he  would  have  given,  if  asked  for  it.  It  is  not  theft  to  take  any  thing  from  a 
father,  or  a  husband,  if  the  value  be  not  considerable."  See  Emmanuel  Sa,  Apor, 
under  the  ^vordfurtum,  theft.  Once  more,  "a  child  who  sen-es  his  father,  may 
secretly  purloin  as  much  as  his  father  would  have  given  a  stranger  for  his  compen-^ 
sation."  See  this  in  Escobar,  Mor.  Theol.  vol.  iv.  lib.  34,  p.  348.  And  ag-ain, — 
"  Servants  may  secretly  steal  from  their  masters  as  much  as  they  judge  their  labor 
is  worth,  more  than  the  wages  they  receive."  See  this  in  Cardenas,  Crisis,  Theol. 
Diss.  23,  cap.  2,  p.  474.  And  Ludovicus  Molina  thus  teaches,  that  if  "  a  man  or 
woman  servant  (hired  persons)  have  not  a  sufficient  support,  or  what  is  usual  and 
necessary,  he  or  she  may  secretly  take,  and  use  out  of  their  master's  goods,  what  is  fit  : 
they  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  doing  so, — providing  they  first  asked  him  for  leave  so  to 
do,  and  he  refuse  it."  See  Mol.  De  Just,  et  Jure  :  Tom.  ii.  p.  1150,  Ment  Edit,  of 
1614. 

Thus  it  is  manifest  from  their  approved  books  lying  open  to  the  world,  that  the 
Roman  catholic  priesthood  are  the  grand  depository  of  principles  bearing  a  deadly 
hostihty  to  the  christian  religion,  and  to  our  free  institutions.  And  I  renew  my  appeal 
to  the  great  American  family,  that  the  Protestant,  who  countenances  these  principles, 
or  aids  them  with  his  money  ;  or  sends  his  children  to  their  seminaries  to  imbibe  these 
tenets,  is  an  enemy  to  God,  a  traitor  to  our  republic,  and  the  destroyer  of  the  peace  and 
happiness  of  h is  childre n ! 

I  am,  most  respectfully,  vours,  &c. 
W.  C.B. 


/ 

200  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

LETTER  VII. 

TO    THE   MEMBERS  OF   THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

On  the  Unity  of  the  Romish  Church. 

"The  other  shape, 
If  shape  it  might  be  called,  that  shape  had  none 
Distinguished  in  member,  joint,  or  limb  ; 
Or  snbstance  might  be  called  that  shadow  seemed: 
For  each  seemed  either." —  Milton. 

Fellow  Citizens  : — I  trust  I  have  in  my  last  two  letters  put  to  rest,  the  claims  face- 
tiously made  by  the  Roman  catholic  priesthood  to  sanctity.  All  the  personal  and 
sacerdotal  holiness,  to  which  they  can  lay  any  honest  claims,  lies  wholly  in  their  mot- 
ley consecrated  garments,  of  duly  orthodox  shape,  and  holy  cut!  This  easy  and 
accommodating  holiness  is  readily  put  off;  and  most  conveniently  put  on,  during  ''  a 
holy  fair,"  and  "  a  solemn  gala  day ;"  while  in  the  inner  man,  they  are  .stouthearted 
deists,  with  few  exceptions,  and  mockers,  of  the  holy  scriptures :  and  in  morals,  as  we 
have  shown,  the  most  consummate  rakes,  and  polluted  pests  of  civil  society  !  I  rest 
my  proof  with  the  American  community  ;  I  appeal  to  the  history,  and  the  voice  of 
Europe,  South  America,  and  Mexico,  for  the  fuller  evidence  of  this  disgrace,  and  foul 
blot  on  human  nature  !     I  come  now  to  speak  of  the  unity  of  the  Romish  church. 

Were  this  unity  which  the  priests  proudly  boast  of,  a  mere  harmless  extravagance, 
like  the  lofty  titles  of  eastern  princes,  w^e  should  pass  it  in  silence.  But  it  is  constituted 
a  mark  of  their  being  the  one  only  true  church.  And  all  the  churches  of  Christ,  on 
account  of  the  supported  want  of  it,  are  doomed  to  be  heretics,  not  one  solitary  soul 
of  whom,  as  your  priests  daily  teach  you,  can  possibly  be  saved.  Hence,  in  the  Ro- 
mish church  this  is  a  dangerous  and  bloody  dogma.  It  eats  out  the  vitals  of  broth- 
erly love  and  christian  charity.  It  is  the  parent  and  nurse  of  bigotr}^  discord,  and 
every  illiberal  feeling.  This  is  too  manifest  in  every  community  where  popery  has 
any  influence.  Your  priests  take  the  lead.  WTien  these  charitable,  and  chaste  exclu- 
sives  walk  our  streets,  or  look  into  a  Protestant  assembly,  they  cross  themselves,  and 
whisper  out, — "These  are  odious  heretics!  These  men,  women,  and  children,  will 
all  be  damned !     As  soon  as  they  die,  they  will  all  be  in  perdition !" 

And  this  proceeds  not  from  "  constitutional  malignity,"  or  mere  morbid  misanthropy. 
It  is  engendered  by  the  elemental  doctrines  of  popery-,  in  the  heart  of  even  females, 
and  those  who  are  naturally  delicate,  and  humane.  "  You  ought  to  be  executed  for 
'propagating  th^se  tenets,  and  opposing  Holy  Mother."' — said  a  young  lady,  in  this 
city,  only  two  years  an  apostate  from  a  presbyterian  church, — only  two  years  a 
papist ! 

This  is  the  very  spirit  engendered  by  the  doctrines  of  Roman  Catholicism.  It  is 
avowedly  taught  by  your  ethic  writers.  Here  ai-e  the  avowed  declarations.  "  Those 
whom  our  lord  the  pope  has  condejined  may  ee  lawfully  killed,  any  w^hereI" 
See  La  Croix,  Tom.  i.  p.  294.,  and  Secreta  Monita,  p.  114.  Princeton  edition. 

This  is  the  law  and  theory  :  the  practical  result  is  exhibited  in  the  Inquisition,  in 
the  Parisian,  and  Irish,  and  Waldensian  massacres !  And  every  one  will  admit  that 
the  executions,  and  the  laws  of  popery  are  true,  to  the  life,  to  each  other ! 

I  have  to  add  that  in  the  popish  charity,  a  heretic  in  faith,  is  viewed  precisely  in 
the  same  light  as  a  common  murderer  ! 


HOMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY* 


201 


Therefore,  it  is  the  decided  opinion  of  all  Roman  priests,  that  it  is  as  lawful  to  kill 
iieretics,  as  it  is  to  kill  murderers ;  nay  that  it  is  as  necessary,  and  as  dutiful  to  kill  the 
first,  as  to  kill  the  last !  Hence,  when  the  church  of  God  has  quoted  that  text,  in  the 
Revelation,  as  descriptive  of  popish  persecutions,  and  in  proof  that  Rome  was  the 
Babylon  ''that  was  drunk  ivith  the  blood  of  the  saints ;— Holy  Mother  replies  in  the 
words  of  the  Rhemish  Annotations  on  Rev.  xvii.  6.,  "Their  blood  is  not  called  the 
blood  of  saints,  no  more  than  the  blood  of  thieves,  man-killers,  and  otlier  malefac- 
tors, for  the  shedding  of  which,  by  order  of  justice,  no  commonwealth  shall  answer.'* 

Such  a  dangerous  tenet  must  not,  therefore,  pass  unnoticed. 

The  Romish  priests  should  be  the  last  men,  in  the  world,  to  prefer  claims  touMTY, 
in  any  sense.  There  is,  in  fact,  no  unity  in  the  priests'  church.  Will  you,  I  pray 
you,  follow  me  in  the  examination  of  this  point. 

I.  The  christian  world  has  been  against  you,  and  you  have  been  against  the  chris- 
tian world.  You  have  been  Ishmaelites  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  There  have  been 
churches  who,  from  primitive  times,  have  stood  out,  not  only  unconnected  with  you, 
but  immoveably  opposed  to  your  whole  system.  These  have  testified  against  your 
most  obnoxious  abominations  ;  and,  as  is  evident  from  the  venerable  monuments  of 
their  history,  still  existing,  they  hold  in  then  confessions  and  creeds,  the  great  leading 
principles  of  modern  Protestants.  European  Christendom  has  been  the  grand  theatre 
of  the  Waldensian  church.  These  christians  were  immensely  numerous ;  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  prodigious  number  of  3-our  church's  murderous  armies  deemed  requi- 
site to  be  sent  out  against  them.  These  people  were  called  by  different  names,  by 
your  persecuting  forefathers ;  but  the  three  great  divisions  of  them  were, — the  Jfal- 
denses,  the  Alhigenses,  and  the  WicUiffites.  These  had  one  common  faith :  they 
unanimously  rejected  images,  saint  worship,"  the  mass,  purgatory,  and  all  the  essen- 
tial tenets  of  Romanism.  And  in  all  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christ,  they  were  at 
one  with  the  reformed  churches.  See  Jones'  Church  Hist.  2  vols.  N.  York  edition. 
Reinerus,  the  DoiPxinican  writer,  says  in  cap.  4.  "  that  these  were  the  most  ancient 
heresy ;  and  that  they  existed  from  the  days  of  Silvester ;  or,  others  say,  from  the 
days  of  the  apostles."  Holding  the  apostolic  doctrines,  they  dated  their  origin,  as 
three  Romish  ^vriters  admit,  "and  their  defection  from  the  Romish  communion,  from 
the  time  of  pope  Silvester ;  and  they  regard  Leo,  of  the  times  of  the  emperor  Constantine, 
as  their  founder."  Romanism,  as  Edgar  observes,  at  this  time  gradually  ceased  to  be 
Christianity;  and  these  inhabitants  of  thevallies,  left  the  antichristian  communion  of 
Rome.  Your  church,  and  the  world,  have  changed  around  this  devout  christian  so- 
ciety;  while  its  principles  and  practices,  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  time,  live  im- 
mutably the  same.  "  The  Waldensian  church,  though  despised  by  the  Roman  hier- 
archy, illumined,  in  this  manner,  the  dark  ages;  and  appears,  in  a  more  enlightened 
period,  tlie  clearest  drop  in  the  ocean  of  truth  ;  and  shines  the  brightest  constellation 
in  the  firmament  of  holiness;  and  sparkles  the  brightest  gem  in  the  diadem  of  our 
Immanuel :  and  blooms  the  fairest  flower  in  the  garden  of  God !"  See  Edgar's  Var. 
i).  59. 

Turn  now,  with  me,  to  the  East.  The  Roman  catholic  church  was  boldly  rejected 
by  the  Greek  church,  an  immense  body  of  christians,  in  the  isles,  in  Turkey,  in  Rus- 
sia, in  Europe,  and  in  Asia.  The  Romish  church  was  as  decidedly  rejected  by  the 
Nestorians;  by  the  Jacobins,  or  the  churches  planted  by  James;  by  the  churches  of 
Armenia;  and  by  the  Syriac  churches.  To  form  some  idea  of  the  extent  of  the 
Greek  church,  let  me  state,  that  in  the  eleventh  century,  the  patriarch  of  Constant!- 


»«  RO!kL\y    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

nople  governed  65  metropolitans ;  and  600  bishops ;  and  each  bishop  had  thousands  of 
priests  under  him ! — See  Thomassin,  Dsciphne  de  L'EgUse,  Pan  4.  2.  17.  And 
Allatius  vol.  I.  24.  The  Greeks,  I  must  observe,  are  the  farthest  perhaps  from  the 
purity  of  the  Reformed  churches,  for  this  painful  reason,  that  they  unhappily  remain- 
ed the  longest  in  connection  with  the  corrupt  church  of  Rome !  But  it  is  a  matter  of 
recorded  history,  that  that  immensely  numerous  body  of  Christians,  has,  as  a  church, 
renounced  papal  usurpations,  corruptions,  and  tyranny.  And  they  have  formally  and 
regularly  excommunicated  the  Roman  catholic  church  ;  and  denounced  her  with 
solemnity  as  no  longer  a  church  of  Christ.  See  Simon,  cap.  i.  and  Canisius  vol.  IV. 
p.  493.     And  yet  your  priests,  in  the  most  ludicrous  manner,  cease  not  to  prate  about 

U.MTT  and  CATHOLICITY  ! 

Moreover,  the  Armenian  church,  an  immensely  extended  body,  spread  over  Armenia, 
Persia,  India,  Turkey,— -have  opposed,  and  also  anathematised  the  Romish  church. 
Then  there  is  the  Syrian  church,  who  have  in  ancient  times  denounced  you  as  an 
apostate  sect,  and  no  more  a  true  church.  And  this  primitive  apostolical  people  have 
existed  in  the  heart  of  India,  to  this  day,  as  it  appears  from  their  remains  which  were 
visited  by  the  late  Dr.  Buchanan.  See  his  Star  in  the  East.  And,  in  a  word,  the 
European,  the  Asiatic,  and  the  African  churches,  who  have  thus  solemnly  dissented 
from  the  Roman  catholic  church,  have  been  at  least,  four  times  more  numerous  than 
the  members  of  the  Roman  church,  even  before  the  Reformation,  when  she  was  in 
all  her  glory."  And  I  invite  all  the  Jesuits  in  the  United  States  to  gainsay  this  by 
any  one  historical  document.  Yes !  it  is  a  fact,  clearly  established  by  history,  of 
which  the  priests  take  infinite  pains  to  keep  you  all  perfectly  ignorant,  that  popery, 
instead  of  unity  and  catholicity  which  are  its  vain  and  empty  boasts,  was  never 
embraced,— never  countenanced  by  more  than  one  fifth  part  of  Christendom.  Yes  I 
every  man  well  read  in  church  history  which  the  priests  carefully  conceal  from  you, 
fellow  citizens,  does  know  assuredly  that  all  along  from  apostolic  times,  there  were 
four  christians  or  dissentients  for  every  one  Roman  cathohc. 

The  countless  thousands,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  Waldenses,  and  the 
immense  multitude  in  the  Oriental  aud  African  churches,— even  amid  their  painful 
"  divisions  about  minor  matters  of  words  and  ceremonies,"  did  all  oppose  with  firm- 
ness and  unanimiiy,  tiie  cruel  tyranny,  and  revolting  corruptions  of  the  Roman 
catholic  church."  Yes !  four  to  one,  of  all  these  were  opposed  "  to  the  sons  of  error, 
superstition,  and  popery,"  See  our  appendix.  No.  i.  And  yet  your  priests  boast  with 
unparallelled  assurance  of  their  unity  and  universahty !  Behold,  fellow  citizens, 
how  these  French,  Spanish,  and  Roman  Jesuits  insult  the  American  cou>munity,  as  if 
you  were  ignorant  of  the  first  elements  of  European  and  popish  history  !  They  walk 
forth  in  the  midst  of  us,  and  babble  of  unity  and  universality,  as  if  we  were  enveloped 
in  the  popish  darkness  of  the  tenth  century.  They  enjoy  our  liberties,  they  walk  forth 
in  our  social  intercourse,  they  smile  in  our  faces, — and  gravely  tell  us, — "  Ye  are 
all  hejetics !  Ye  are  as  bad  as  murderers  !  We  have,  however,  this  consolation 
over  you,  that  though  we  want  the  power  to  justify  you  at  the  stake,  and  the 
gibbet, — ye  will  all  soon  be  doomed." 

H.  Your  priests  boast  of  unity  and  harmony  among  yourselves.  This  is  quite  face- 
tious, and  if  you  intend  it  for  a  sally  of  wit,  why,  itis  tolerable  for  monks  and  priests. 
But  I  shall  suppose  that  you  are  serious,  and  gravely  refute  your  claims.  Need  I 
remind  you  of  the  fatal  schisms  in  your  church,  with  which  we  refreshed  your 
memory  in  a  former  letter  ?    Where  was  your  unity  ja  those  days  when  two  anc| 


lOMAN   CATHOLiC   COP^TftOVERSf .  2(1B 

Ihnt  popes,  with  their  bloody  partisans,  rent  Holy  Mother's  family  into  agitatied  par- 
lies ?  Must  I  remind  you  of  the  bloody  wars,  which  impious  and  atrocious  popes 
excited,  to  accomplish  the  end  proposed  by  their  rebellions  against  their  lawful 
sovereigns,  the  emperors?  Need  you  be  reminded  of  the  civil  wars  which  raged 
during  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Leo  between  those  who  opposed  images,  and  "the 
furious  tribe  of  image  worshippers?  Need  I  tell  you  how  the  popes  Gregory  I. 
and  II.  were  the  authors,  and  ringleaders  of  these  civil  commotions,  and  insurrections 
in  Italy,  in  their  excessive  zeal  in  behalf  of  image  worship  ?  See  Mosheim  ii.  cent* 
8,  part.  2,  ch.  3.  Has  not  the  whole  world  heard  of  pope  Zachary  who  excited 
Pepin  to  rebel  against  his  sovereign,  the  king  of  France,  and  depose  him,  and  reign 
by  violence,  in  his  stead  ?  And  of  pope  Stephen  whose  restless  ambition  stirred  up 
the  French  king  to  carry  on  war,  and  shed  the  blood  of  the  Lombards,  to  extend  his 
papal  dominions  ?  AVho  has  not  shuddered  at  his  inhuman  destruction  of  the  tens  of 
thousands  of  his  own  good  catholics,  as  this  priest  fought  to  wrest  property  and 
dominion  from  the  emperor?  See  the  pages  of  your  own  writer,  Platina,  in  the  life 
of  pope  Stephen,  ii. ;  and  Stillingf.  p.  367.  Trace,  I  beseech  you,  the  progress  of  the 
papal  throne,  to  power  and  sacerdotal  glory.  That  papal  throne  was  founded  in  out- 
rage and  rebellion  against  governments :  it  was  built  on  the  ruin  and  lives  of  millions* 
and  cemented  in  human  blood !  "  So  great  was  the  devastation  and  blood  shed  caused 
by  popish  unity  and  popish  harmony,  that,  as  two  of  your  writers  relate, — "  the  country 
about  Rome  suffered  more,  about  that  time,  than  in  the  invasions  of  Northern  bar- 
barians, for  344  years  before!"  See  Platina,  in  Life  of  Stephen  II. ;  and  Blondus, 
Decad.  2,  Lib.  i.  Stilling,  p.  369.  Need  I  remind  you,  moreover,  of  the  infamous 
treachery  of  pope  Gregory  IV.  who  undertook  a  journey  into  France,  professedly 
with  a  view  of  composing  differences  betw^een  the  emperor  and  his  two  sons,  but  who 
had  no  other  object,  as  the  result  fully  proved,  than  to  excite  the  sons  into  an  open 
breach,  and  war  with  their  own  father?  And  thus,  the  head  of  unity  kindled  the 
flames  of  discord  which  were  not  quenched  but  by  the  blood  of  thousands.  "  Pope 
Gregory  IV.," — says  Hincmar  the  Roman  catholic  bishop  of  Rheims, — "  came  into 
France:  and  there  was  no  peace  from  that  day,  in  the  country."  Hincmar,  Epist. 
p.  577,  Stilling,  p.  371.  Need  we,  also,  rehearse  the  doings  of  pope  Gregory  VII., 
who  has  been  well  named,  ''the  hell-brand?"  This  pious  head  of  the  Roman 
catholic  unity,  excited  continual  wars  in  Germany,  and  the  adjacent  kingdoms.  The 
«mperor,  Henry  IV.,  fought  in  his  time,  no  less  than  sixty-two  pitched  battles,  (that 
is,  ten  more  than  Julius  Cjesar  fought,)  and  all  of  them  at  the  instigation  of  the  pope, 
in  one  way,  or  another.  See  the  Chron.  of  Ursperg.  p.  226,  and  the  history  of  that 
period  :  and  Stilling,  p.  372.  Need  I  recite  the  horrid  tumults  which  that  pope 
caused  by  his  enforcing  the  laws  of  celibacy  upon  the  priests  ?  Or  tlie  public  distrac- 
tion caused  by  his  inhuman  treatment  of  Henry  IV.,  notwithstanding  all  his  ser- 
vices? His  making  that  poltroon  prince  stand  at  his  gate,  three  days,  clad  in  sack- 
cloth, bare  headed,  and  bare  footed  in  winter,  before  he  deigned  to  give  him  an  audi- 
ence ?  Was  this  characteristic  of  the  head  of  unity  and  harmony  ?  If  you  have  any 
doubts  on  the  matter,  I  shall  recite  in  evidence  the  only  good  thing  which  this 
scourge  of  mankind  during  all  his  lifetime,  either  did  or  said.  I  allude  to  his  dying 
words,  as  recorded  by  Math.  Paris.  His.  Anglic,  A.  D.  1087.  Having  called  one  of 
his  friends  to  him,  he  confessed  that  ''it  was  through  the  instigation  of  the  devil  that 
he  had  made  so  great  a  disturbance  in  the  christian  icorld  /"  This  is  an  instructiv«f 
lesson  of  a  pope,  on  unity ! 


204  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

In  one  word,  it  is  clearly  manifest  to  every  reader  of  history,  that  in  all  the  endless 
train  of  tumults,  insurrections,  and  wars  which  have  convulsed  Europe,  and  drenched 
her  in  seas  of  blood,  for  about  the  last  eleven  hundred  years,  the  pope  and  the 
Romish  prelates  have  been  the  grand  agitators,  and  prime  causes !  And  yet  the 
priests  boast  of  unity  and  harmony^  as  an  exclusive  mark  of  their  being  the  true  church ! 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  yours  &c. 
W.  C.  B 


LETTER  VIII. 

TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


-"  About  her  round, 


A  cry  of  hell-hounds,  never  ceasing,  barked. 

With  wide  Cerberean  mouths,  full  loud,  and  rung 

A  hideous  peal!"  Milton. 

Fellow  Citizens: — We  go  on  with  the  proof  that  the  unity  of  the  priests' 
church  is  discord. 

For, — III.  The  various  orders  and  rules  of  the  monks  exhibit  a  house  divided 
against  itself.  These  Orders  are  so  many  regiments  in  the  pope's  army,  who  act  in 
concert  only  against  the  common  enemy.  Each  of  them  has  its  own  esjjrit  du  corps; 
and  has,  from  time  to  time,  caused  the  fiercest  contests  and  tumults  on  various  parti- 
zan  questions.  There  is  1st  the  Benedictines  with  their  rules  ;  and  dressed  in  the 
characteristic  solemn  black,  from  the  color  of  the /ayonfe  raven,  which  attended  Bene- 
dict in  his  solitude,  and  which  as  a  sensible  and  judicious  creature,  the  holy  monk 
appropriately  called  his  "brother;"  and  was,  in  fact,  as  Dr.  Geddes,  vol.  iii.  367, 
recites  out  of  the  writings  of  the  order,  ''' his  first  brother  in  the  soUiude.^^  Then  2d, 
there  are  the  monks  of  Climy,  founded  by  the  wild  fanatic  St.  Odo,  who  did  not  con- 
ceal that  he  was  infested  by  flocks  of  mischievous  foxes  wherever  we  went ;  no  man 
could  tell  where  they  came  from,  until  a  humane  wolf  volunteered  most  devoutly  and 
obligingly,  to  be  his  guard  by  day  and  night !  Then  3d,  there  are  the  Cameldunians, 
whose  clothing  is  white,  because  the  ghost  of  St.  Apollinar  walked  out,  in  clothing 
of  pure  light,  from  below  the  altar,  and  appeared  to  their  founder.  The  4th  order  is 
that  of  the  Gilbertines,  named  after  their  founder,  who  was  moved  to  institute  the 
order  from  the  presence  of  a  crucifix,  gravely  and  sensibly  nodding  its  head  at  him, 
as  do  the  statues  of  our  modern  Mandarines !  The  5th  order  is  the  Carthusians ; — 
*'  an  inhuman  order,"  as  Dr.  Geddes  justly  styles  them,  from  their  crucifying  every 
fine  feeling,  and  social  principle  of  human  nature ;  a  thing  our  priests  are  not  guilty 
of,  as  we  have  seen  !  The  6th  is  the  Cistertia?is,  which  differs  as  much  from  that  of 
the  Carthusians,  as  that  did  from  all  its  preceding  brothers!  This  order  is  clothed  in 
•white,  because  the  mother  of  the  founder  was  favored  with  a  marvellous  and  appro- 
priate dream,  that  she  was  about  to  give  birth  to  a  ivhite  dog.'  Then  there  are  the 
three  orders  of  the  Cekstines ;  tlie  Williamites ;  and  the  Silveste mites. 

Besides  these,  are  the  Canons  Regular  ;  and  the  fourteendifferent  orders  of  St.  Au- 
gustine. Then  we  may  enumerate  the  Dominican,  and  other  Mendicant  orders,  which 
differ  widely  from  the  monkish  orders :  and  there  are  the  strong  army  of  the  Francis- 
cans ;  and  to  crown  the  whole,  the  authors  of  all  mischief,  the  Jesuit's  order.  Each 
of  these  has  a  particular  resident  virtue  and  efficacy ;  and  they  gravely  tell  us  that  it 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  205 

Ued  ill  some  holier  article  of  their  holy  dress.  For  instance,  the  Dominican's  virtue 
lies  in  their  u'hite  scapular:  that  of  thu  Monks  lies  in  their  belts:  that  of  the  Francis- 
cans in  their  sleeve.  And  it  is  proper  for  us  all  to  hnow  this,  that  when  the  golden 
dream;s  of  the  })opc,  and  his  monks,  are  realized,  and  when  they  have  conquered  this 
fair  republic,  and  established  these  orders  :  and  when  they  will  swarm  on  our  streets, 
ia  their  holy  processions,  "  as  plenty  as  blackberries," — we  may  carefully  put  our- 
selves on  our  good  manners  :  and  so,  by  the  orthodox  Roman  way  of  thinking,  and 
worsliipping  God  by  human  proxy,  save  our  lives.  We  must,  for  instance,  swear  in 
these  days,  by  the  Dominican's  white  scapular;  salute  the  monk  by  kissing  his  belt; 
and  the  Franciscan  by  kissing  his  holy  sleeve,  as  we  kneel  in  the  dust,  for  the  honor 
ui'  having  his  blessing,  or  the  saintly  honor  of  laying  the  foundation  stone  of  a  vile 
iiunuery,  or  of  worshi])ping  and  lauding  to  heaven  the  priest's  fovorite  nieces,  under 
the  name  of  sisters  of  Love!     All  this  they  do,  in  popish  lands! 

Between  these  different  orders,  and  the  bishops,  and  the  parochial  clergy,  there 
have  been  perpetual  wranglings  in  all  Roman  catholic  countries.  And  the  pope 
shrevv'dly  avails  himself,  of  their  influence  mutuall}^.  When  the  bishops  are  refrac- 
tory,  he  judiciously  foments  quarrels  by  the  monks;  when  the  latter  become  turbu- 
lent, he  throws  in  his  papal  sword  to  make  the  bishops'  scale  w^eigh  down  !  Besides, 
there  have  been  as  deadly  feuds  between  these  orders,  as  ever  there  have  been  among 
Highland  clans,  and  Border  reivers !  The  Jesuits  cherish  violent  feuds  against  the 
Jansenists ;  the  Dominicans  maintain  bloody  strifes  with  the  Franciscans,  and  the 
Scotists  with  the  Thomists  !  And  all  these  orders  know  club  logic,  infinitely  better 
than  arguments  of  grace  ! 

In  fact,  the  Romish  church,  in  its  interior,  has  been  like  a  boiling  caldron,  over  a 
fiercely  burning  fire  !  The  agitated  scalding  waves  now  thrown  up  one  thing,  and 
now  another.  There  is  no  rest,  no  peace  to  priest,  to  pope,  or  to  prelate !  And  yet 
these  men  glory  insultingly  over  the  Christian  world,  in  their  unity  and  harmony  ;  and 
hold  this  up  as  the  divine  mark  of  their  possessing  in  fee  simple,  the  only  true  church !  ! 

IV.  There  is  no  unity  between  the  doctrines,  and  rites  of  the  Roman  catholic 
church;  and  those  of  the  holy  Scri])tures,  and  the  Fathers.  Follow  me  in  the  proof 
of  this.  First,  the  papal  supremacy  is  the  corner  stone  of  your  fabric,  if  this  falls,  the 
whole  system  falls,  and  the  trodden  down  people  regain  their  rights  and  liberty. 

Now  there  is  no  evidence  in  the  Bible,  or  in  sound  tradition,  (hat  Peter  had  any 
supremacy  from  Christ.  On  the  contrary,  all  evidence,  and  sober  tradition  are  against 
it.  YMur  priests  impose  on  you,  and  confirm  the  evidence  of  their  impostures,  by 
their  marvellous  ignorance  of  Greek  criticism,  and  painful  specimens  of  their  literary 
knaver}' !  Christ  alone  is  that  Rock  on  which  the  church  is  built :  Peter  is  not,  and 
he  cannot  be  the  Rock,  as  your  priests  pretend.  This  is  the  point  on  which  we  are  at 
issue  :  we  exalt  Christ  Jesus  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  as  our  only  foundation.  Your 
priests  actually  prefer  to  this  honor,  an  erring  and  feeble  mortal,  the  man  Peter!  .  Is  it 
not  mortifying  to  the  dignity  of  human  nature,  and  man's  noble  powers  of  reason, 
that  any  man  should  be  so  lost,  and  so  atheistic  in  his  principles,  as  deliberately  to 
prefer  a  frail  mortal  creature  to  the  Great  God,  our  Savior,  Jesus  Christ  I  Fellow 
Citizens,  I  im])lore  you  to  shake  off  the  chains  of  ghostly  ignorance  and  imposture, 
which  the  priests  rivet  on  you.  Tell  them  that  you  choose  not  to  be  stulti'i'd,  and  crush- 
ed down  to  the  level  of  brutes,  by  them!  What!  can  you  possibly  prefer  a  frail,  er- 
ring man,  for  the  foundation  of  the  church,  and  the  basis  of  your  own  eternal  hopes, 
and  reject  Christ,  the  Almighty  God  ?     If  you  do,  fellow  citiiiens,  you  renounce  the 

19 


206  nOMA-N  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

ilignity,  and  the  honor  of  maD  ;  you  throw  wantonly  away  every  thing  that  ennoblBa 
the  Christian ! 

It  is  well  known  to  every  Greek  scholar,  that  the  Roman  catliolic  priests,  in  labor- 
ing to  establish  their  fanatical  error,  on  this  point,  have  fallen  into  a  disgraceful  gram- 
matical blunder,  for  which  a  school  boy  would  be  disciplined.  This  they  do  in  their 
critical  exposition  of  the  words  in  Matt.xvi.  18.  "Thou  art  Peter,  a  rock,  and  upon 
this  rock  will  I  build  my  church."  By  this  imposition  on  the  illiterate,  they  ex- 
pose their  ignorance  of  Biblical  criticism  ;  or,  as  the  only  alternative,  they  betray  a 
mischievous  act  of  knavery! 

The  true  rendering  is  this: — "Thou  art  Petros ;  and  upon  this  the  Petrckr^ 
em  TavTji  rjt  Jlcr^a — I  will  build  my  church."  Now,  it  was  not  Petros,  Peter,  who 
was  to  be  the  foundation.  Christ  said  no  such  thing.  These  priests  slander  our 
Lord  : — he  said  it  was  the  Petra,  not  Pttros,  on  which  he  built  the  church.  And  from 
the  very  phrase,  namely,  '■'•ufon  this  the  rock,^'  it  is  manifest  that  the  Lord  pointed  to 
his  own  person,  as  he  said,  "upon  this  the  rock;"  as,  on  another  occasion,  he  saidy— 
"  destroy  this  temple," — meaning  not  the  outward  temple  before  them ;  but  "this,  ttr« 
temple  of  his  body." 

Now,  it  is  notorious  that  your  priests  have  fallen  into  the  very  error,  into  which  th« 
Jews  fell.  They  understood  him  to  say,  "  their  splendid  temple  of  stone  and  timber," — 
and  not  his  "own  body."  In  like  manner  your  priests  make  the  Petros  the  same  as 
^'this  the  rock,''  meaning  not  the  divine  iierson  of  Christ,  but  the  frail  man  Peter  ! 

And  ours  is  the  exposition  given  by  St.  Augustine : — "  I  have  said  in  a  certain  pas- 
sage, respecting  the  apostle  Peter,  that  the  church  is  founded  upon  him  as  upon  a 
rock."  But  now  mark  what  this  great  man  said  afterwards, — "  But  I  do  know  that  I 
have  frequently  afterwards  so  expressed,  that  the  phrase  "  wpon  f/iis  rocZc,"  should  be 
understood  to  be  the  rock  which  Peter  confessed.  For  it  was  not  said  to  him  thou  art 
Petra,  but  thou  art  Petros,  for  the  rock  was  Christ."  See  Aug.  Oper.  Tom.  i.  p.  32. 
the  first  book  of  his  "  Retractationes."  Bendict.  Edit.  Paris,  1685.  This  is  also  the 
judgment  of  seven  other  fathers.  And  let  it  be  especially  noted  that  what  our  Lord 
said  to  Peter  about  "the  keys,"  and  "the  remission  of  sins,"  he  also  said  to  th© 
church  of  God."  See  Matt,  xviii.  17, 18.  and  also  to  all  the  other  apostles,  to  whom 
lie  gave  "the  keys,"  and  power  of  disciplinary  remission,  just  as  much,  and  as  expli- 
citly, as  to  Peter.     See  John  xx.  23. 

'And,  I  pray  3'ou,  fellow  citizens,  to  remember  that  your  priests  are  at  open  war  with 
the  holy  scriptures  on  this  point.  Let  the  inspired  writers  explain  this  matter  to  us. 
See  2  Corin.  ix.  4.  Paul  says,  "  that  rock  was  Christ.'"  Will  you  give  more  heed 
to  ignorant  and  profligate  priests,  than  to  the  inspired  and  holy  St.  Paul?  Hear  him 
again  in  Ephes.  ii.  20.  "  We  are  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  proph- 
ets, Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  cor jier  stone,"  or  rock.  And  in  Revel,  xxi.  14. 
St.  John  declares  "that  in  the  foundation  were  the  names  of  the  twelve  apostles,"— 
and  not  Peter's  merel}'.  Read,  think,  and  judge,  I  beseech  vou,  for  yourselves.  Nay, 
hear  St.  Peter  himself  explain  this ;  you  certainly  will  give  more  credence  to  St.  Peter 
than  to  those  illiterate  and  licentious  priests,  whom  St.  Peter  in  his  hasty  wrath,  were 
he  here,  would  "  smite,  and  cut  their  ears  off."  In  his  first  Epistle  ii.  6,  7.  he  declares 
Christ  to  be  "the  precious  and  elect,  and  chief  corner  stone,  and  the  Petra,  the 
Joc/c."     Ver.  8. 

And  moreover,  our  Lord  himself  settles  the  question  about  Peter's  "  supremacy." 
Soe  Matt.  xx.  25.  Mark  x.  42.     There  he  puts  all  his  disciples  on  a  perfect  footing  of 


ROMAX  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  207 

equality.  He  charges  them  to  borrow  no  model  of  power  from  the  heathen :  to  allow 
of  "no  lordships ;"  "  no  exercising  of  authorit}',"  over  each  other  as  his  apostles,  and 
ministers.  These  were  "Gentile"  customs,  and  not  christian.  And  Peter  never 
claimed  supremacy ;  and  none  of  the  apostles  ever  gave  it  to  him  in  a  compliment. 
Hear  his  own  words,  in  1  Epist.  ch.  v.  while  he  is  addressing  "the  elders  who  have 
the  oversight  of  the  flock,"  that  is  "  teaching  elders,"  or  "  the  pastors.''  He  assumes 
no  supremacy  over  them;  he  claims  no  other  rank  than  that  of  a  fellow  *■'■  elder. '*'' 
"  I  am  also  an  elder," — says  the  holy  and  humble  apostle.  And  placing  himself  in 
tlieir  ranks,  he  charges  them  "not  to  be  Lords  over  God's  heritage!"  How  could  he 
be  supposed  guilty  of  that  tyranny  and  crime,  against  which  he  thus  solemly  guards 
tlie  christian  ministry? — Now,  suppose  one  of  their  pious  elders,  or  "priests,"  if 
you  will,  had  said, — "Our  Lord  Peter!  Our  Lord  God  Pope  Peter!"  What 
would  he  have  said  ?  Our  Lord's  words  to  himself,  on  another  occasion,  when 
he  showed  that  he  was  neither  supreme,  nor  infallible,  would  have  ministered  to  him 
the  words  of  the  severe  but  just  rebuke, — "Get  thee  behind  me  Satan  I  for  thou 
savorest  not  the  things  that  be  of  God,  but  those  that  be  of  men  !"  Hence  he  had  no 
supremacy;  and  if  Peter  had  no  supremacy, — your  popes,  u-e re  they  even  his  suc- 
cessors, have  none. 

But  farther,  I  can  produce  seven  of  your  fathers  against  this  supremacy  of  the 
bishop  of  Rome.  1st.  St.  Angmtine  signed  the  decree  of  the  Mil*  vitan  Council 
vJ'hich  declared  that  "  if  any  man  shall  appeal"  from  his  own  bishop,  to  any  one, 
"  beyond  seas,  let  him  be  received  into  communion  by  none  in  Africa^  Thus  he  de- 
dares  that  there  is  no  supremacy  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  over  the  African  bishop;?, 
and  churches.     See  Mans.  Concil.  Collect.  Tom.  iv.  507.     Venet.  Edit,  of  1785. 

I  am  aware  thai  popish  writers  quote  the  following  out  of  Augustine's  Ei)ist.  43 
alias  162. — "  The  supremacy  of  the  Apostolical  See,  has  always  remained  in  th«2 
church  of  Rome." 

But  can  this  be  genuine,  and  no  forgery;  when,  as  is  testified  above,  Augustine 
signed  the  famous  decree  of  the  Milevitan  Council,  protesting  against  the  pajial  su- 
premacy of  Rome;  and  solemnly  excommunicating  all  who  should  even  appeal  to 
Rome  against  his  own  church  and  bishops  in  Africa  ? 

But  the  point,  is  settled  witliout  supposing  a  forgery.  The  fathers  had  not  alwavs 
the  unanimous  consejit  with  themselves.  In  Tom.  i.  p.  32.  Retract.  Lib.  i.,  Augustine 
frankly  admits  that  he  had  made  Peter  the  Rock,  and  the  foundation  of  the  church. 
But  this  he  retracted;  and  declares  that  "the  Rock  is  Christ  whom  Peter  confessed," 
"  for,"  adds  he, — "  it  was  not  said  to  him  thou  art  Petra  ;  but  thou  art  Petros :  for  tho 
Rock  was  Christ." 

2d.  St.  Jerome  says, — "The  church  of  Rome  is  not  to  be  deemed  one  tiling,  and 
the  churcli  of  the  wholf^  world,  another." — "  Wheresoever  a  bishop  is,  whether  at 
Rome,  or  Eugubium,  or  at  Constantinople,  or  Alexandria,  or  Tanais,  he  is  of  the  same 
worth,''  &c.  "But  all  bishops  are  successors  of  the  apostles.  Why  do  you  produce 
to  me  the  custom  of  one  city?"  See  Jerome  to  Evagr.  Tom.  ii.  p.  512.  Paris  Edit. 
1602.  Again  he  says — "  Bishops  should  recollect,  that  they  are  greater  than  ciders, 
rather  by  custom  than  the  truth  of  the  Lord's  appointment ;  and  that  they  ought  to 
rule  the  church  in  common."  Jerome,  on  Titus,  Tom.  i.  Lib.  i.  cnp.  1. — Finch, 
p.  166. 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


208  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTP.OVERST, 


LETTER  IX. 

TO    THE    MEMBERS    OF    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

Popery  condtmntd  by  the  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers. 

"  In  the  first  six  hundred  years,  there  was  )io  church,  no  one  doctor,  no  one  martyr,  no 
one  confessor,  no  one  member,  in  the  West,  or  in  any  other  part  ot'  the  world,  whu  Ava& 
properly  and  formally  a  papist." — roetius. 

Fellow  Citizens: — We  have  seen  in  the  progress  of  our  discussion,  that  your 
priests  have  a  cumbrous  and  inaccessible  load  of  materials  for  their  rule  of  faith.  To 
the  holy  scriptures,  they  add  the  apocrypha,  and  oral  tradition,  and  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  fathers.  The  effect  of  this  is  obvious.  If  I  add  to  "any  rule,"  or 
nieasi;re,  two  inches,  or  cut  off  two,  from  it, — it  is  no  longer  a  rule:  it  is  utterly 
destroyed.  The  very  object  for  which  it  was  made  is  lost.  This  leads  infallibly 
into  deism.  Hence  every  Roman  preist,  just  in  proportion  as  he  is  a  consistent  papist 
is  an  irrecoverable  deist;  and  a  stout-hearted  opposer  of  God's  word.  His  Jfirst  les- 
son, and  the  first  element  of  his  system  is  this  :  The  holy  scriptures  are  not  the  rule 
of  faith  :  they  are  not  perfect ;  their  authority  is  given  to  them  by  the  pope  and  his 
priesthood  !  They  have  no  divine  authority  over  the  soul  and  consciences  of  men, 
but  what  a  profane  priest  gives  to  them ! 

This  overwhelming  truth  our  New  York  priests  have  taken  incredible  pains  to 
convince  the  American  community,  in  each  of  their  letters,  before  they  retreated. 
And  there  is  not  a  reflecting  man  among  us,  whether  he  is  christian  or  deist,  who 
does  entertain  a  doubt  on  the  subject.  Every  body  knows  that  the  priests  here  arc 
as  resolute,  and  as  stout-hearted  deists,  as  Voltaire,  Hume,  or  Paine  was !  And 
having  gone  this  fatal  length,  it  is  no  wonder  that  there  does  exist  among  our  Ameri- 
can, as  well  as  European  Roman  catholic  priests,  the  same  division  which  exists 
among  the  deists :  namely,  the  immortal  deist,  who  believes  in  a  future  state;  and  the 
mortal  deist,  who  does  not  believe  in  a  future  state!  And  in  this  they  have,  by  the 
way,  pontifical  precedent  and  example.  One  of  the  popes  of  Rome,  on  his  death 
bed,  summoned  his  favorites  around  him,  and  made  this  extraordinary  remark,  "  I 
am  dying ;  and  I  shall  soon  have  three  doubts  solved,  which  have  long  hung  on 
my  mind  ;  namely, — v/heiher  there  be  a  heaven, — whether  there  be  a  hell, — and 
whether  there  be  a  God  !" 

But,  by  abandoning  the  evidence  and  weight  of  divine  authority,  for  his  religion, 
the  Roman  priest  gains  his  great  object.  He  throws  the  whole  proof  of  his  novel 
system  on  the  evidence  of  human  authority, — and  on  that  alone  !  He  is  compelled  to 
do  this,  because  he  is  conscieus  that  its  essential  doctrines,  and  rites  were  entirely 
invented,  some  centuries,  after  the  Bible  was  given  by  God  to  the  church. 

One  principal  fountain  of  the  priests'  authority  and  evidence,  is  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  Fathers.  On  tliis  I  join  issue  with  them :  to  this  test  I  cheerfully 
follow  them ;  and  we  shall  see  that  they  are  condemned  by  the  fathers,  as  well  as  by 
the  scriptures.  Now,  let  me  here  state  explicitly,  the  Roman  catholic  maxim  and 
law  on  this  point.  It  is  this: — "  That  doctrine  and  rite  which  has  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  Fathers,  is  binding  on  the  human  conscience:  that  which  has  not  the 
unanimous  consent  is  of  no  authority  whatever."  This  is  the  radical  and  fatal  doctrino 
on  which  Romanism  as  a  system  of  novel  religion,  is  founded  and  reared. 


ROMAjr    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  209 

Now,  I  can  easily  show  that  the  distinctive  doctrines  and  rites  of  Rome,  do  abso- 
lutely and  utterly  want  this,  their  own  essential  evidence.  And  here  let  it  be 
especially  noted,  that  it  is  of  no  consequence  to  us  whether  or  not  the  Romish  priests 
produce  quotations  perfectly  the  reverse  of  those  genuine  ones  which  I  shall  produce. 
Let  them  do  it :  only  let  them  quote  fairly.  We  wish  them  to  offer  opposite  quota- 
tions. In  doing  so,  they  will  only  ruin  their  cause  the  sooner.  They  will  prove  that 
the  fathers  do  not  only  not  agree  wiih  each  other, — but  that  they  do  contradict  them- 
selves.    Hence,  there  can  be  no  unanimous  consent  of  the  Fathers^ 

I  have  formerly  given  a  specimen  of  the  Fathers  on  the  jjopish  supremacy ;  I  shall 
add  a  few  more.  And  it  will  be  edifying  to  give  the  exposition  of  a  few  of  them  on  the 
famous  text,  "  Thou  art  the  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  will  I  build  my  church,'^  ^c.  In  my 
last  letter,  I  gave  St.  Augustine's  exposition.  "  It  was  not  said  to  him,  thou  art  Petra  ; 
but  thou  art  Petros:  for  the  Rock  was  Christ."  Tom.  i.  p.  32^ Retractions.  Again  : 
"Did  Peter  receive  those  keys,  and  did  not  John  and  James,  and  the  other  apostles 
not  receive  them?  "What  was  given  to  him,  was  given  to  the  church."  Sermon 
149.     Tom  V.  p.  766.  Bened.  Edit.  Paris,  1685. 

St.  Jerome  declares  *'  Christ  to  be  the  Petra,  the  Rock ;  who  granted  to  his  apostles* 
— donavit  apostolis — that  they  also  should  be  called  rocks."  On  Amos  ;  Tom.  v.  p. 
263,  Paris  Edit,  of  1602.  But,  I  shall  help  your  priests  to  another  quotation ;  for  I 
wish  to  be  impartial.  In  Tom.  iv.  p.  15,  he  makes  Peter  the  Rock,  and  the  chuich 
founded  on  him!  Ag-ain,  in  Tom.  iii.  p.  173,  this  consistent  saint  says:  ''The 
catholic  church,"  (he  does  not  say  the  Roman  catholic  church,)  but,  "the  catholic 
church  is  founded  in  a  firm  root,  upon  the  Petra,  the  Rock  Christ." 

Ij;  is  proper  to  state,  however,  that  some  who  are  well  skilled  in  Jerome's  writings, 
do  maintain  that  when  he  makes  Christ  the  petra, — the  rock ;  he  extends  this  to  all 
the  apostles  equally  :  "  they  are  all  rocks  :  the  church  rests  on  them  all  equally. 

I  must  also  vindicate  him  from  a  quotation  which  your  priests  here,  and  in  Eiirope, 
have  given  out  of  his  book.  Adv.  Jovin.  Lib  i.  cap.  14.  It  is  this, — "Among  the- 
twelve  to  prevent  schism,  one  is  elected,  and  established  as  the  head.""  Here  the 
Jesuits  are  guilty  of  a  partial  translation  ;  and  of  garbling  the  entire  sentence.  I 
ghall  give  the  true  rendering,  and  the  entire  sentence:  "But  thou  say  est,  the  churcli 
is  founded  on  Peter,  although  in  another  place,  the  vein/  same  thing  is  done  upon  all 
tlie  apostles;  and  they  all  receive  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  lieaven;  and  the 
strength  of  the  church  is  established  equally  upon  them  alh  Yet,  therefore,  among 
the  twelve  one  is  chosen,  that,  the  head  being  appointed^  the  occasion  of  scliism  may 
be  taken  away," — that  is,  the  one  chosen  was  "  head,"  or  president  to  keep  order. 
This  was,  in  Jerome's  view,  all  of  Peter's  supremacy.  And  even  this  is  questioned ; 
for  when  the  full  college  of  apostles  met,  which  was  only  ^vhile  they  were  at  Jerusa- 
lem, it  was  not  Peter,  but  James  who  was  "the  head,"  and  president.     Acts  XV. 

St.  Chrysostom  says  "Chri>t  did  not  say  upon  Peter,  for  he  did  not  found  his 
church  upon  a  man  ;  but,  upon  faith.  What,  tlierefore,  means  this  Petra, — Rock  ? 
Upon  the  confession  contained  in  Peter's  Avord."  Oper.  Tom.  vt  p.  233.  Paris 
Edit.  1621.     The  same  idea  he  advances  in  Sermon  54.  on  Matt.  xvi..  18. 

In  like  manner  Origen  on  Matt.  xvi. :  and  Athanasius  in  his  letter  to  Serapion^ 
Paris  Edit.  1627.  Also  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  Tom.  v.  p.  500,  Paris  «dit.  16-38. 
Also  St.  Amtjrose,  De  Incarn.  Sac.  Lib.  i.,  Paris  Edit.  1690.  And  it  helps  my  cause 
to  add,  that  St.  yVmbrose  is  so  destitute  of  tlie  unaiiimous  consent,  that  he  advocatcsjt 
Peter's  sujjremacy.     Let  the  priests  produce  this  contradiction^  on  his  pages^  ajyj^ 

19* 


210  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

thereby  aid  our  cause.  And  finally,  St.  Hilary  makes  the  rock  confessed  by  Pefer, 
to  be  the  only  foundation  of  the  church.  See  his  work,  De  Trinit.  Lib.  vi.  Paris 
Edit.  1652.  The  original  of  all  these  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers,  I  am  prepared  to 
give,  at  any  call.  The  original,  in  Greek  and  Latin,  is  lying  before  me.  I  omit 
them  only  for  want  of  room. 

Theodoret  the  Greek  father,  thus  wrote  in  451 ;  "  Christ  alone  is  the  head  of  all : 
but  the  holy  church  is  ttis  body ;  and  we  say  that  the  saints  are  the  members  of  hi& 
body ;  one,  indeed,  is  the  neck  ;  and  another  the  feet.  By  his  tegs,  understand  St. 
Peter,  the  first  of  the  apostles."  On  Canticles,  Lat.  Edit.  Paris  1608.  Thus  he 
makes  Peter  the  legs,  which  are  borne  up  by  the  feet ;  and  by  no  means  the  head  ! 

Next,  let  me  present  you  with  a  quotation  or  two  from  Turtullian  :  "Peter  was 
called  a  stone,  or  a  rocky  for  tho  building  of  the  church.  All  the  apostles  were  rocks." 
Contra  Marc.  Lib.  iv.  Again; — "Survey  the  apostolical  churches,  in  which  the 
very  chairs  of  the  apostles  still  preside  over  their  stations ;  in  which  their  own  epistles 
are  recited;  uttering  the  voice,  and  representing  the  presence  of  each  of  them.  Is 
Achaia  nearest  to  thee?  Thou  hast  Corinth.  If  thou  art  not  far  from  Macedonia, 
thou  hast  the  Philippians,  and  Thessalonians.  If  thou  canst  go  to  Asia,  thou  hast 
Ephesus ;  but  if  thou  art  near  Italy,  thou  hast  Rome,  whenee  to  us  also  authority  is 
near  at  hand."     De  prceserip.  adv.  Haeres.  cap.  36,  p.  215,  Paris  Edit.  1675. 

This  is  the  famous  passage^  which  the  Jesuits  and  other  popish  writers  had  sported' 
so  long,  as  an  irrefragable  proof,  from  one-  of  the  most  ancient  of  th-e  Faihers,  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  Roman  See.  But  the  imposture  has  been  detected,  and  exposed^ 
Will  my  reader  believe  me,  when  I  assure  him.  that  in  quoting  the  above,  they  left 
out  all  the  lines  printed  in  Italicks  !  In  the  Priests'  Book,  the  quotation  begins  with, 
"If  tb)u  art  near  Italy,"  &c.     See  Finch's  Romish  Controv.  p.  214. 

Ambrose  Ls  ixsually  set  in  opposition  to  Peter's  supremacy.  Hear  his- 
words; — "Faith  is  the  foundation  of  the  church;  for  it  was  not  said  of  the  fiesh 
of  Peter,  but  of  his  faith ^  that  the  gates  of  hell  should  not  prevail  against  it."  De- 
Incarn.  Dom.  Sacram.  Lib.  1.  Cap.  5  p.  711.  Bened.  Edit.  Par.  1690,  Again; 
"What  is  said  to  Peter,  is  said  to  the  Apostles."  In  Psal.  38.  Tom.  i.  p.  858.  Once 
more, — "  not  unmindful  of  his  place,  he  enacted  the  primacy, — a  primacy  of  confes- 
sion, not  of  ho7ior :  a  primacy  o( faith,  and  not  of  order.'''    De  Incarn.  Lib.  i.  as  above. 

Let  me  next  carry  you  to  St.  Cyprian,  who  thus  wrote  in  A.  D.  248. — "  The  other 
Apostles  were  the  same  as  Peter,  endowed  with  an  equal  fellowship  of  honor,  and 
power,  &c."  De  Unit.  Eccles.  p.  107.  Oxford  edit.  1682.  Once  more,  in  his  pre- 
fatory Address  to  the  bishops  at  the  Council  of  Carthage  he  said, — "No  one  of  us  has 
set  himself  up  as  the  bishop  of  bishops ;  or  has  driven,  by  t3Tannical  fear,  his  col- 
leagues to  the  necessity  of  obeying  him;  since  every  bistop  has  his  own  will  for  the- 
exercise  of  his  liberty  and  power  &c."  And  this  was  the  sentence  of  the  council  of 
Carthage.     See  Labb.  and  Cossart's  Coneil.  Tom.  i.  p.  786. 

St.  Hilary  we  must  not  omit:  hear  his  words  uttered  so.  far  back  as  A.  D.  SSS- 
"The  building  of  the  church  is  upon  this  Petra,  Rock- of  his  (Peter's)  confession: 
this  faith  is  the  foundation  of  the  church  :.  through  this  faith  the  gates  of  hell  are 
weak  against  it."  De  Trinit.  Lib.  6.  Par.  Edit.  1652.  Again  in  his  Expos,  of  Psal. 
52,  he  says, — "  The  apostles  obtained  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Once 
more; — "we  have  known  no  rock  but  Christ;  because  it  is  said  of  him, — bujt  the 
Rock,  Petra  was  Christ."     Expos,  of  Psal.  140.  Enarr.  p.  1138. 

Finally;  St.  Gregort,  the  pope,  makes  an  enhghtened  opposition  lo  the  supre.- 


ROMAN    CArflOLIC   CO.VTROVERSr.  211 

macy  of  the  pope,  in  A.  D.  590.  I  could  fill  pages  from  him;  but  I  select  the  fol- 
lowing,—" Ego  autem  fidenter  dico,  &c.  I  confidently  say,  that  whosoever  calls 
himself  Universal  Bishop,  (Pope,)  or  desires  to  be  so  called  in  his  pride,  is  the  fore- 
runner of  Antichrist:  because  he,  in  his  pride,  prefers  himself  to  the  rest.  And  he 
is  conducted  to  error  with  a  similar  pride.  For  as  "-  that  tvicked  one''  wishes  to  appear 
a  god  above  all  men,  so,  whosoever  he  is  who  de*ires  to  be  called  sole  bishop, 
extols  himself  above  all  other  bishops."  Lib.  7.  Indie.  15,  Epist.  33,  Ad.  Maur.  Aug. 
Bened.  Edit,  of  Paris,  1705.  And  in  Lib.  7.  Indie.  15.  Epist.  40,  he  shows  beyond 
the  denial  of  Jesuits,  that  the  bishops  of  Alexandria,  and  Awfioch,  with  him  of  Rome, 
were  equally  descended  from  the  Apostle ;  and  that  the  one  had  no  supremacy  over  the 
other.  And  this  man,  remember,  I  pray  you,  was  a  pope,  and  one  of  your  saints, 
whom  you  worship,  and  adore  with  the  burning  of  incense.  Hence,  you  should  tell 
your  priests,  who  scandalously  impose  on  laymen's  ignorance  of  history,  that  they 
stand  a  poor  chance  in  their  hopes  of  getting  into  paradise  by  the  merits  and  prayers 
of  Sf.  Gregory,  the  pope!  For  they  oppose  and  blaspheme  this  demi  god,  by  their 
modern  popery.  You  may  depend  on  h,  if  St.  Gregory,  the  pope,  has  any  control  of 
the  gates  of  paradise,  not  one  soul  of  the  Jesuits  can  ever  get  in  for  love,  or  money  I 

To  the  authority  of  the  Father's,  I  shall  add  the  decisions  of  councils,  against  tlie 
papal  supremacy.  It  is  well  known  that  before  the  council  of  Nice,  which  first 
divided  the  government  of  the  chruch  into  four  Patriarchal  seats,  Rome  had  very 
little,  or  rather  no  pre-eminence.  All  the  Jesuits  are,  of  course,  well,  acquainted 
with  the  verses  ofiEneas  Silvius,  who  became  Pope  Pius  ii.,  namely,— "Antequam 
Ninceuum,  &c.  Before  the  Nieene  council,  every  bishop  or  pastor,  lived  to  him- 
self: little  respect  was  paid  to  the  church  of  Rome."  See  Pope  Pius,  ii.  Epist.  301 : 
and  Willet's  Synopsis  p.  158.  In  the  Nieene  council,  no  primacy  of  power  was 
given  to  Rome,  over  the  whole  church.  The  Patriarchs  of  Jerusalem,  of  Antioch, 
and  Alexandria,  were  independent  of  the  bishop  of  Rome.  The  fact  is,  the  bishop  of 
Rome  was  really  a  small  concern  in  those  days.  The  Oriental  churches  knew 
scarcely  any  thing  of  his  name,  and  nothing  of  the  modern  facetious  claims  of  abso- 
lute supremacy,  made  by  our  Romish  fanatics! 

Lastly  :  your  own  master  spirit,  the  Jesuit  Bellarmine  admits  unluckily,  what 
overthrows  the  papal  supremacy.  He  says,  1st.  that—*'  It  doth  not  depend  on 
Christ's  institution,  sed  ex  Petri  facto,  but  from  the  fxt  or  deed  of  Peter,  that  th£ 
bishop  of  Rome,  in  preference  to  the  bishop  of  Antioch,  or  any  other  See,  should  be 
St.  Peter's  successor."  "It  is,'*  says  he,  ''jure  humano,  non  jure  divino  :'' — by 
"human  law,  not  by  divine  right,  or  law,  that  he  has  all  that  power,  which  he  has." 
"It  is  not  ei-  prima  institutione,  ^c.  from  the  first  institution  of  the  pontificate, 
which  is  read  of  in  the  gospel."  Again,  he  frankly  admits,— "  jRomonw/n  pontificem, 
<Scc."  that  the  Roman  pontif  is  the  successor  of  Peter,  is  not  expressly  set  down  hi 
the  scriptures ;  but  it  is  grounded  on  St.  Peter's  tradition."  See  Bellarm.  Dc  Pontif. 
Lib.  ii.  cap.  17.  also  cap.  16. 

Thus,  your  principal  writer  abandons  all  proof  from  scripture.  Hence,  it  is  disho- 
nest, and  sheer  imposition,  in  any  of  your  priests  to  quote  ths  text  o{  Peter,  the  Roch 
to  prove  the  pope's  supremacy.  And  touching  this  writer's  proof  of  Peter's  supre- 
macy from  tradition, — his  whole  argument,  in  one  word,  amounts  to  this.  A  priest 
goes  into  court  to  claim  the  possession  of  an  immense  estate  : — "  It  is  true,"  says  he, 
"I  do  not  claim  it  by  any  written  deed,  or  by  the  will  of  the  true  owner.  But  the 
genuine  members  of  my  family,  John  Roe,  and  Nicholas  Doe  have  a  tradition  in  o«r 


2J2      .  ROMAN  CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

favor,  from  time  immemorial, — and,  therefore,  we  claim  it,  in  opposition  to  those  \vho 
have  the  genuine  and  authentic  will ;  in  as  much  as  our  tradition  is  better  than  any 
deed  or  will,  in  the  possession  of  the  lineal  heirs ! !"  This  is  the  whole  amount  of  the 
Roman  catholic  argument. 

And  thus  the  supremacy  of  the  Romish  church  and  pope  arose,  not  from  the  will 
r)f  God,  or  any  command  of  Christ;  or  the  voice  of  Peter,  or  any  legal  deed  of  tlie 
church  :  but,  like  the  power  and  supremacy  of  CsBsar,  Alexander,  or  Tamerlane, — 
it  arose  out  of  human  pride  and  ambition !  It  was  reared  by  iniquity,  fraud,  and 
atheism :  it  was  erected  at  the  expense  of  millions  of  human  lives :  and  the  blood  of 
»ixty  eight  millions  has  cemented  it !  !  And  wo,  wo,  wo  be  to  the  man  who,  in  any 
way,  aids,  or  sustains  it.  It  is  an  enemy  to  the  human  race !  It  shuts  up  as  far  as 
it  can,  the  gates  of  heaven  !  It  has  already  been  the  eternal  undoing  of  millions !  It 
is  the  most  malignant  enemy  of  God.  And  the  Almighty  has  pledged  all  his  perfec- 
tions to  destroy  it  for  ever  and  ever  !     See  Rev.  chap,  xviii. 

Your  sincere  friend,  &c. 

W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  X. 

TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

Popery  condemned  by  Scripture  and  the  Fathers. 

"  O  alienate  from  God !  O  spirit  accursed  I 
Forsaken  of  all  good  I  I  see  thy  fall 
Determined "  Milton. 

Fellow  Citizens: — I  finished,  in  my  last  letter,  the  quotation  of  testiinonies 
from  the  Fathers  against  the  supremacy :  I  now  beg  leave  to  observe  t — 

Second,  tlmt  the  use  of  images  in  divine  worship  is  condemned  by  Scripture  and  the 
Fathers. 

Hear  the  voice  of  God  to  you: — "Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him 
only  shalt  thou  serve."  Math.  iv.  10.  "  Little  children  keep  yourselves  from  idols." 
1  John  V.  21.  Deut.  xxvii.  15.  "Cursed  be  the  man  that  maketh  any  graven  or 
molten  image,  an  abomination  unto  the  Lord ;  the  work  of  the  hands  of  the  crafts- 
man ;  and  putteth  it  in  a  secret  place :  and  all  the  people  shall  answer  and  say, 
Amen.'^  And  hear  the  voice  of  God  in  the  second  commandment:  "  Thou  shalt  not 
make  unto  thee  any  graven  image ;  or  any  likeness,  of  any  thing  that  is  in  heaven  above, 
or  tliat  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  waters  under  the  earth :  thou  shalt 
not  bow  down  thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them.'''  And  the  whole  of  the  scriptures, 
on  every  page,  denounce  idolatry  as  rebellion  against  God,  and  sheer  atheism  ! 

But  the  popish  priests  leave  out  the  whole  of  the  second  commandment  from  their 
catechism,  except  a  line  or  so.  They  make  three  commands  in  the  first  table,  and 
seven,  in  the  second.  They  express  the  first  precept  thus:  "Thou  shalt  have  no 
other  gods  before  me  :  thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  thing,  &c."  See 
the  Catech.  of  the  council  of  Trent,  authorized  by  pope  Pius  V.  There  is  a  double 
act  of  treason  here  against  Almighty  God.  They  leave  out  the  word  image,  and 
render  it  "  graven  thing :"  and  they  cut  off  the  whole  of  the  precept  after  the  word* 
"graven  thing."     And  to  make  up  the  ten  precepts,  they  divide  the  tenth  into  two^ 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC     COIVTROVERSY.  213 

For  Instance;  their  ninth  commandment  is :  "Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's 
house."     And  the  tenth  is  :  "Tliou  !?halt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  ■s\'ife."  &c. 

Let  us  now  hear  the  Fathers  against  the  use  of  images  in  the  worship  of  God.  St 
Augustine  says:  "This  is  the  chief  cause  of  this  mad  impiety,  that  a  figure  resem- 
bHng  a  living  form,  operates  more  forcibly  upon  the  feelings  of  these  wretched  men, 
than  its  being  manifest  that  it  is  not  living  ;  and  therefore,  that  it  ought  to  be  despised 
by  the  living."  Expos,  of  Fsal.  113,  Enarr.  Again,  in  his  44th  Epist.  to  Max.  he 
says, — "know  thou,  that  none  of  the  dead,  or  any  thing  made  of  God,  is  worshipped 
a^  God,  of  the  catholic  christians."  Hexe  he  states  that  those  who  worship,  or  bow 
down  to  the  dead,  or  to  creatures,  are  not  catholic  christians.  There  is  another 
famous  passage  in  St.  Augustine  in  Lib.  De  Mor.,  or  his  Manners  of  the  catholic 
cliurcli, — in  which  he  declares  the  worshipping  of  sain  fs  tombs  and  pictures,  to  be  as 
bad  as  gluttony  and  drunkenness.  Here  are  his  words :  "I  know  that  many  are 
worshippers  of  tombs  and  pictures;  I  know  that  there  be  many  who  banquet  most 
riotously  over  the  graves  of  the  dead,  and  giving  meat  to  the  carcasses,  do  bury  them- 
selves upon  the  buried ;  and  attribute  their  gluttony  and  dnmkenness  to  religion." 
Quoted  in  the  14th  Homily  of  the  church  of  England  on  the  Peril  of  Idolatry,  part  2. 
Again,  he  says, — "  Images  be  of  more  force  to  crooken  an  unhappy  soul,  than  to 
teach  and  instruct  it."  Again, — "When  images  are  placed  in  temples,  and  set  in 
honorable  sublimity,  and  begin  once  to  be  worshipped,  forthwith  breedeth  the  most 
vile  affection  of  error."     See  14  Homily,  ut  siipra. 

Hear  Tertullian, — "  Omnis  forma,  &c.  Every  form,  or  little  form  must  be  called 
di  idol."  "  God  forbids  as  well  the  making  as  the  worshipping  of  an  idol. — the 
divine  law  proclaims  thou  shalt  not  make  an  idol.^''     De  idol.  cap.  iv.  p.  87.  Paris  1675. 

St.  Athanasius  says:  "OXwf.'jrwj/  &c.  The  invention  of  idols  is  not  good,  but 
altogether  evil.  For  that  which  has  a  bad  beginning,  being  wholly  bad,  cannot  b« 
deemed  good  in  any  way."     Orat.  Contr.  Gent.  Par.  Edit.  1627.  Finch,  p.  195. 

St.  Ambrose  thus  writes:  "The  gentiles  worship  wood,  because  they  think  that 
is  the  image  of  God :  but  the  image  of  the  invisible  God  is  not  in  that  which  is  seen  ; 
but  in  that  which  is  not  seen."  On  Psalm  118,  Tom.  i.  p.  1095.  Bened.  Edit. 
Paris  1690.  Again, — "  The  church  knows  no  vain  ideas,  and  vain  images  of  figures  ; 
but  she  knows  the  true  substance  of  the  Trinity."     On  the  Flight  of  time,  Tom.  i. 

Of  the  same  sentiment,  are  Origen,  Clemens  xilexand.  Eusebius,  Cyprian,  Lac- 
tantius,  and  Epiphanius.  Gregory  insists  that  images  may  be  used,  "  but  are  by  ivo 
means  to  be  worshipped  or  bowed  down  untoJ'''  See  Registr.  Epist.  Lib.  ii.  Ind.  4.  p. 
1100.  Bened.  Edit.  Paris  1705. 

Memorable  are  the  words  of  Lactantlus,  Lib.  ii.  De  Orig.  Error.  Tom.  i.  p.  385, 
Paris  Edit.  1748  :  "  Tliere  is  no  doubt  but  tliat  there  is  no  religion  in  that  place  where- 
ever  any  image  is.  For  if  religion  stand  in  goodly  things,  and  there  is  no  godliness 
but  in  heavenly  things,  then  are  images  without  religion." 

In  like  manner  writes  St.  Cyril.  But  I  shall  close  this  with  the  words  of  the  coun- 
cil of  EHberi  in  Spain,  held  in  A.  D.  300.  "  Placuit  picturas,  &c.  It  haih  seemed 
good  tons  that  pictures  ought  not  to  be  in  the  churches,  lest  that  which  is  worshipped 
or  adored  be  painted  on  the  walls."  Finch,  p.  2.56.  Thus  scripture  and  the  Fathers 
condemn  the  use,  and  the  icorship  of  itnasrcs  in  the  church. 

Third. — The  ivorship  of  angels  and  saints  is  condemned  by  the  scriptures  and  the 
Father.-.  Col.  ii.  18.  "Let  no  man  beguile  you  in  a  voluntary  humility,  and  wor- 
ijhipping  of  angels."     When  John  in  an  unguarded  moment  fell  down  to  worship  the 


214  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY^  / 

angel,  (Rev.  xix.  10.)  he  was  sharply  rebuked, — "see  thou  doit  not — worship  God.^'' 
In  Psalm  Ix.  11.  we  are  taught  by  the  Lord  how  vain  is  the  help  of  man,  be  he 
dead,  or  living, — "O  God,  give  us  help  from  trouble,  for  vain  is  the  help  of  manP* 
In  Jeremiah  iii.  23.  we  are  taught  to  look  to  no  created  being :  but  unto  God  only  fbr 
salvation: — "  Truly  in  the  Lord  our  God  is  the  salvation  of  Israel."  In  Acts  iv.  12. 
it  is  declared  by  St.  Peter,  who  spoke  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  no  angel,  and  no  saint 
can  help  to  save  us : — "  There  is  no  salvation  in  any  other,  than  in  Jtsus :  for  there  is 
no  other  name  under  heaven,  given  among  men,  ivhereby  ice  must  be  saved.''  No,  not 
one  among  all  angels  under  heaven:  none  among  all  men,  in  heaven,  or  on  earth! 
And  to  make  it  doubly  sure,  God  has  thus  proclaimed,  in  Jerem.  xvii.  5, — "  Thu9 
saith  the  Lord,  cursed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  man  ;  that  maketh  flesh  his  arm:  and 
whose  heart  departethfrom  the  Lord.'' — Hear  also  the  words  of  our  Savior,  in  Matt.  iv» 
10.,  "Jesus  saith  unto  him,  get  thee  hence,  Satan,  for  it  is  written,  thou  shall  worship 
the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  o^ly  shall  thou  serve." 

From  all  these  divine  passages  we  gather  these  two  essential  doctrines : — 1st.  All 
persuasions,  or  motives  to  use,  or  worship  idols,  and  go  after  other  gods,  come  from 
Satan.  2d.  There  is  no  place  in  divine  worship  for  saints'  merit,  or  saints'  worship. 
For  it  is  certain  that  none  of  all  his  creatures  can  bring  up  to  the  throne  of  God  any 
personal  worth,  or  merit,  or  sanctity,  which  he  can  add  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ's  In- 
finite atonement,  and  his  holy  and  prevalent  intercession.  No  angel,  or  man  can  be 
supposed  to  be  a  suitable  object  to  pray  to,  unless  they  know  the  hearts  of  all  men.  But 
God  only  is  the  solo  object  of  v/orship,  because  "he  only  knoweth  the  hearts  of  all 
the  children  of  men."     1  Kings  viii.  39. 

Now  hear  the  Fathers  on  this  point : — St.  Bernard  on  Ileb.  i.  14.  says, — "  Evidently 
are  they  our  ministering  servants,  not  our  masters,  or  lords."  And  on  Psal.  90.  sec^ 
11.  "  If  not  our  lords  and  masters,  then  are  they  not  to  be  worshipped." 

St.  Augustine  thus  declares, — "Christ  is  the  High  Priest  who  has  entered,  for  os, 
within  the  veil,  and  who  alone  of  those  ivho  have  appeared  in  the  flesh  intercedes  for 
ns."  In  Psal.  61.  Tom.  iv.  p.  633.  Bened.  Edit.  Paris.  And  the  following  is  irre- 
sistible,— "Respondent,  &c.  they  answer,  we  worship  not  evil  spirits,  we  worship 
those  beings  whom  you  call  angels,  the  powers  and  servants  of  the  great  God.  I  wish 
you  wouLd  worship  them,  and  you  would  soon  learn  from  them,  not  to  worship  them. 
Take  the  angel  for  a  teacher."  He  then  refers  to  St.  John,  and  the  angel  who  rebuk- 
ed him.     Aug.  Oper.  Tom.  iv.  p.  1054,  in  Psal.  96.  Bened.  Edit. 

The  words  of  St.  Athanasius  are  equally  decisive, — Ovk  6vv  irt  &c.  It  belongs 
alone  to  God  to  be  worshipped,  and  the  angels  themselves  are  aware  of  this; 
for  although  they  surpass  others  in  glory,  they  are  all  creatures,  and  are  not  beings  to 
be  worshipped,  but  beings  who  worship  the  Lord."  Third  Orat.  against  the  Arians; 
Paris  Edit.  1627.  To  the  same  purpose  are  the  words  of  Origen,  Theodoret,  Greg- 
ory Nyssen,  Epiphanius,  and  others. 

Fourth. — Prayers  in  an  unknown  tongue  are  condemned  by  Scripture  and  the  Fa- 
thers. The  Breviary,  used  by  the  priests,  is  in  Latin  ;  and  their  prayers,  and  the 
mass,  are  exhibited  in  Latin.  It  is  true,  Roman  catholic  prayer  books  are  found  in 
English.  But  I  have  had  occasion  to  observe  in  a  former  Letter,  that  these  books  put 
forth  in  English,  are  very  different  from  the  genuine  Breviaries.  They  are  sheer  im- 
positions on  you,  their  own  devotees,  designed  mainly  to  impose  upon  Protestants.  In 
these  English  mass  books,  they  appear  marvellously  orthodox ;  and  do  make  a  mar- 
yellpus  approach  to  Protestant  prayer  books.     They  have,  it  is  true,  the  prayers  to 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  215 

the  saints,  and  **  the  rosary  of  the  Mother  of  God."  But  these  are  shorn  of  their  chief 
blasphemies,  to  stop  the  mouths  of  uninformed  Protestants.  The  infamous  blasphe- 
my contained  in  the  prayers  to  the  Virgin,  for  instance,  is  carefully  expunged  in  the 
English  versions  of  the  Breviary.  I  mean  the  phrase  '''■Holy  Mother  command  thy 
Son,  ^-c."  In  the  Latin  Breviary,  it  is  "jube  filio,"  command  thy  son.  "Holy  Mo- 
thej,  ora  patrem,  jubeflio, — pray  to  the  Father,  and  command  thy  Son." 

Again, — "  Jure  matris  impera  dilectissimo  tuo  filio  Domino  nostro  Jesu  Christo; 
By  the  rights  of  a  mother,  command  thy  most  beloved  Son,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
See  Bonavent.  Cor.  Beat.  Virg.  JMaria:  Tom.  vi.  Rom.  Edit.  A.  D.  1588. 

Again, — "O  felix  puerpera,  nostra  plans  scelera,  jure  matris  impera  Redemptoril 
Qra  suppliciter  (Patr'em  ;)  praecipe  sublimiter  (Redemptori.")  That  is, — "O  happy 
Mother  of  God,  by  virtue  of  the  rights  of  a  mother,  atoning  for  our  crimes,  lay  thy 
commands  on  the  Redeemer !  Humbly  supplicate  the  Father ;  lay  thy  imperial  com- 
mands on  thy  Son,  the  Redeemer!"  See  Hist.  Sec.  Char.  August.  De  Commem. 
Beat.  Mar.  Fir.— Morn.  Exer.  p.  523. 

Now,  these  horrid  blasphemies  are  weekly  perpetrated  by  ^''our  priests  in  Latin. 
But  did  such  a  prayer  book  lie  before  the  public  in  the  common  tongue,  and  were 
such  monstrous  fictions,  absurdities,  and  blasphemies,  as  are  recorded  on  the  pages  of 
the  Latin  Breviary,  uttered  in  a  New- York,  or  any  American  audience, — they  would 
be  shocked  to  such  a  degree  thatthey  would  start  from  their  seats,  and  leave  the 
Chapel,  to  save  themselves  from  the  inflictions  of  such  prayers,  and  vows  as  are  fit 
only  for  Rabshakeh,  and  the  court  of  the  King  of  Assyria ! 

I  hesitate  not  to  affirm,  that  this  reveals  one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  your  priest's 
employing  Latin.  No  priest  dare  come  out  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  among  an  enlight- 
ened people,  \\ith  their  prayers  to  the  saints ;  or  with  the  monstrous,  and  revolting 
fictions  of  the  mass,  in  English.  They  would  as  soon  venture  out  with  an  English 
translation  of  St.  Bonaventure's  psaltery;  in  which  all  the  psalms  are  altered  so  as  fo 
be  addressed  to  the  Virgin  Mary  :  or,  with  an  English  version  of  the  most  infamous 
and  obscene  questions  put  by  priests  to  persons, — and  even  females,  in  Etiglish, 
at  the  confessional  I 

This  practice  of  Latin  prayers,  and  services,  is  condemned  by  St.  Paul,  speaktag 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.  See  1  Cor.  xiv.  "If  any  man  speak  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
let  one  interpret.  But  if  there  be  no  interpreter  let  him  keep  silence  in  the  church." 
Again,  Ver.  9.  "Except  ye  utter  by  the  tongue,  words  easy  to  be  understood,  how 
shall  it  be  shown  what  is  spoken?  For  ye  shall  speak  into  the  air!"  "  If  I  know 
not  the  meaning  of  the  voice,  I  shall  be  unto  him  that  speaketh,  a  barbarian,  and 
he  that  speaketh,  shall  be  a  barbarian  unto  me  !" 

Here,  my  fellow  citizens,  St.  Paul  declares  that  j'^our  priests  make  themselves,  ab- 
solutely, nothing  but  barbarians  unto  you.  And  if  you  believe  St.  Paul,  speaking  by 
inspiration,  you  are  bound  to  believe  them  barbarians,  when  they  insult  you  by  their 
senseless  Latin  mummery  !  ^\Tien  will  you  rouse  up  and  begin  to  act  as  men, — as 
rational  beings!  When  will  you  assert  your  mental  and  spiritual  liberty;  and  loU 
off  from  you  these  endless  wrongs,  and  insults,  heaped  on  you,  by  designing  sacer- 
dotal knaves !  Arise,  and  maintain  your  rights.  Were  you  going  to  petition  a  friend, 
or  the  Corporation,  or  the  Congress,  for  a  special  favor,  would  you  address  them  in 
an  unknown  tongue?  Do  you  not  see  the  monstrous  absurdity  o(  Latin  prayers, 
which  scarcely  even  one  of  your  priests  can  translate,  or  even  read  accurately,  and 
none  of  all  the  people  can  understand  !     Docs  not  your  Maker  command  you  to  ur« 


216  ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY* 

a  known  tongne?  Hear  the  words  of  Paul,  1  Cor.  xiv.  15.,  "I  will  pray  wiih  thd 
Spirit,  and  I  will  pray  with  the  understanding  also."  But  no  people  can  obey  thi« 
command,  under  your  priests'  impositions.     None  of  you  can  understand  one  word ! 

Hear,  now,  the  Fathers  of  the  church.  They  condemn  the  prayers  in  unknown 
tongues.  Origen  says, — "  Christians  in  prayers,  use  not  the  very  words  of  scripture" 
(that  is  the  Hebrew  and  Greek,)  "  but  the  Greeks  use  the  Greek,  the  Romans,  the 
Latin,  and  so  every  one  according  to  his  own  dialect,  does  pray  unto  God,  &c."  "  And 
he  who  is  the  Lord  of  every  language,  hears  the  prayers  put  up  to  him  in  every  lan- 
guage.'^    Contr.  Cels.  Lib.  8.  p.  402. 

Hear  St.  Ambrose, — "If  ye  come  together  to  edify  the  church,  those  things  ought 
to  be  spoken  that  the  hearers  may  understand  :  for  ivhat  does  he  profit  the  people^  who 
speaks  in  an  unknown  tongue  ?"  In  1  Cor.  xiv.  And  if  your  priests  do  not  know 
that  the  Hebrews  attempted  this  innovation,  before  them,  let  them  now  know  it.  And 
let  them  know,  moreover,  that  St.  Ambrose  rebuked  the  folly  thereof.  In  the  place 
rbove  quoted,  he  thus  adds, — "  There  were  some,  especially  of  the  Hebrews,  that 
used  the  Syriac,  and  the  Hebrew  tongue,  in  their  services,  but  these  aimed  at  their 
own  glory  and  commendation,  not  at  the  people's  benefit."  What  a  rebuke  to  your 
haughty  priests,  from  one  of  your  own  sainted  fathers.  Let  them  writhe  under  the 
scourge  of  St.  Ambrose  ! 

But  hear  St.  Augustine  next :  "Intelligere  debemus,  &c.  We  ought  to  understand 
■w'hat  we  pray  for,  that  we  may  not  like  birds,  but  like  men,  sing  unto  God.  For 
black-birds,  and  parrots,  and  crows,  and  magpies,  &c.,  are  taught  to  sound  forth 
wliat  they  understand  not.  But  to"  (and  this  includes,  as  in  David's  psalms, 
both  prayers  and  praisings,)  "sing  with  understanding,  is  granted  not  to  a  bird,  but 
to  a  man,  through  God's  good  pleasure."  Enarrat.  in  Psal.  18,  Morning  Exer.  p. 
303.  Thus  you  see  that  father  Augustine,  and  his  ancient  associates,  considered 
prayers  in  an  unknown  tongue,  as  similar  every  way  to  the  pratings  of  a  magpie,  or  a 
parrot !  Origen,  Chrysostom,  Jerome,  Basil  the  Great,  are  decidedly  of  the  same 
opinion.  Their  original  words  are  before  me.  I  omit  them  for  want  of  room.  See 
Fulk's  Confut.  of  the  Rhemish  Test,  on  1  Cor.  xiv. 

But  I  cannot  omit  Cardinal  Cajetan,  your  own  champion's  words.  In  his  Com- 
ment, in  1  Corin.  cap.  xiv.  he  says  :  "  Ex  hac  Pauli,  &c.  From  this  doctrine  of  St. 
Paul,  it  follows,  that  it  is  better  for  the  edification  of  the  church,  that  the  public 
prayers  which  the  people  hear,  should  be  made  in  that  language  which  both  priests 
tod  people  understand,  than  that  they  should  be  made  in  Latin!"  Hear,  finally, 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  your  angelical  doctor, — "Plus  lucratur,  &-c.  He  gains  most 
who  prays  and  understands  the  words  which  he  speaks,  &c."  "Mehus  est,  &c.  It 
is  better  that  the  tongue  which  blesses,  should  interpret,  for  good  words  should  be 
spoken  to  the  edification  of  faith."  Now  surely  where  the  people  listen  to  the  Latin 
jjtayers,  no  man  can  understand — no  man  can  diligently  say,  amen  ;  no  man  can, 
along  with  the  priest,  oflfer  up  a  petition.  How  forcible  the  words  of  the  apostle  Paul : 
"  I  thank  God,  I  speak  with  tongues  more  than  you  all ;  but  I  had  rather  speak  five 
words  to  be  understood  by,  and  to  edify,  those  that  hear  me,  than  ten  thousand  words, 
in  an  unknown  tongue  !"     1  Cor.  xiv.  18. 

Thus  far,  we  see, — your  system  is  condemned  by  the  word  of  God  and  the  anciint 
Fathers  of  the  church. 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  yours  respectfully,  &c. 

W.  C.  B. 


lirOMAN  CATHOLIC  CaNTROVERST-.  217 

I  LETTER  XI. 

TO    THE    MEMB£rRS   OlF   THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

Popery  condemned  by  Scripture  and  the  Fathers. 

"iBut  the  abominable,  and  murderers,  and  impure,  and  sorcerers,  and  idolaters,  and  all 
liars,  shall  have  tiieir  part  in  tire  lake  which  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone." — Rev.  xxi.  8. 

Fellow  Citizens: — Having  despatched  the  chief  wari^s  and!  notes  of  your  priests' 
church,  I  thought  it  proper,  before  I  entered  on  a  minute  -examination  of  your  sacra* 
meuts,  and  essential  rites,  and  doctrines,  to  take  a  rapid  view  of  your  system,  as  a 
whole  ;  and  to  show  you  that  wc  do  not  lightly  affirm  that  popery  is  condemned  by 
scripture  and  the  Fathers. 

Your  priests  have  their  grand  iesf-of  the  truth  of  th'eir  whole  system ;  namely,  th-e 
unmiimoiis  consent  of  the  Fatlhers.  These  Fathers  explain  the  scriptures,  say  they,  and 
give  "  the  only  true  meaning-of  them :"  these  Fathers  conveyed  the  genuine  traditions, 
and  handetl  down  the  holy  Roman  catholic  rites,  ceremonies,  and  sacraments.  In 
fact,  the  wianimous  consent  of  the  Fathers  is  the  pillar  of  popery.  This  unanimous 
consent  of  the  sainted  writers,  you  say,  is  wielded  by  the  pope,  and  the  church,  with 
infallible  and  immutable  precision.  It. props  up  the  tottering  stool  of  St.  Peter,  and 
sustains  the  pope  on  it ;  and  he  in  his  turn,  sustains  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
Fathers.     I  am  justifiable,  therefore,  in  taking  some  time,  and  pains  to  overthrow  it. 

And  before  we  dismiss  it,  I  trust  it  will  be  made  to  appear  as  absurd  and  ridiculous, 
as  the  claims  of  the  holy  and  chaste  priests  to  sanctity  !     AVe  therefore  go  on  : — 

Fifth. — Your  peculiar  worship  offered  to  the  Virgin,  '''the  mother  of  God,^'  is 
condemned  by  scripture,  and  the  Fathers.  Whatever  is  not  enjoined  of  God  in  his 
worship,  is  to  be  considered  will-worship ;  and  is,  therefore,  to  be  rejected,  as  forbidden 
of  God.  That  which  Paul  in  Col.  ii.  1"8,  calls  dpricKua  the  w-orshipping  of  angels,  is 
by  him  called  in  ver-  23.     c6c\oQpmKEia  will-worship. 

Now,  in  all  the  New  Testament,  there  is  no  command  to  pray  to  Mary,  no  example 
favoring  it,  either  on  the  part  of  Christ,  or  of  his  apostles.  The-angel  used  the  words 
to  her,  which  you  torture  wickedly  into  a  prayer,  "-Hail  Mary!  Ave  Maria!''  Now, 
who  that  impious  blasphemer  was,  who  first  conceived  the  monstrous  idea  of  this 
being  -a  pray-er,  and  an  act  of  worship,  is  not  known, — history  does  not  reveal  the 
infamy  of  his  name.  The  angel  simply  used  the  common  salutation,  X.itpc.  And  it 
no  more  includes  the  idea  of  worship,  than  our  common  salutation,  "  How  are  you  / 
or,  Goodbye, — a  contraction  for  '•'' God  be  with  you.''  "Hail  Mary!"  It  is  the  same 
word  used  by  our  Savior  in  Matt.  v.  12,  to  hi«  people,  and  there  rendered  re/ozce  ye  ! 
Did  our  Savior  in  this  address,  worship  his  audience?  If  so,  then  the  angel  also 
adored  Mary.  And  if  so,  you  are  correct  in  worshipping  her  with  your  Ave  Maria! 
If  not.,  then  you  are  imposed  upon,  by  knavish  priests ! 

Our  Lord,  wbileas  man,  he  did  his  mother  reverence, — as  one  "  under  the  law,"— 
never  adored  her,  never  admitted  her  right  to  interfere  as  intercessor,  or  adviser,  in 
his  mediatorial  work.  There  is  a  strong  instance  and  proof  of  this,  in  John  ii.  4. 
Mary  seems  to  have  suggested  the  idea  that  he  should  miraculously  give  wine  :  he 
replied  in  language  of  the  most  polished  respect, —  Twai,  Lady,  what  to  me,  and  to 
thee  ?  "  My  hour  is  not  yet  come."  That  is, — "  Lady, — I  honor  you  as  my  mother 
in  the  flesh,  as  Son  of  man  :  but  as  Son  qf  God,  what  is  common  between  me  and 

20 


213  ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

thee  ?"  Nothing :  I  receive  no  hints,  no  instructions ;  as  Son  of  God,  I  have  no 
mother:  I  have  no  sovereign,  "My  hour,"  fixed  by  me  as  God,  "is  not  yet  come.  I 
sliall  work  a  miracle  v^^hen  my  hour  comes."  And  the  fact  confirms  this  exposition. 
If  your  prayers  had  been  due  to  her,  then  St.  Peter  and  St.  John,  and  all  the  apos- 
tles were  very  impious,  very  negligent,  and  most  criminal  men.  They  never  name 
her ;  they  oifer  no  vows  to  her :  rear  no  altars  to  her :  made  her  no  statues ;  brought 
no  incense  to  her!  What  impious  atheists  these  men,  the  holy  apostles,  must  have 
been,  in  the  belief  of  all  Roman  catholics  dyed  in  the  wool ! 

But  let  us  hear  the  Fathers; — Epiphanius  bishop  of  Salamis,  in  366,  thus  wrote, — 
"  AXX'  dvTc  HX.'af  &c.      But  neither  is  Elias   to  be  worshipped,    although   he  be 
alive  ;  nor  is  John  to  be  worshipped."  *****   "  Nor  is  Thekla,  or  any  one  of  the 
saints  worshipped.     For  that  ancient  error  shall  not  prevail  over  us,  to  forsake  the 
living^  God ;  and  to  worship  the  things  that  are  made  by  him.     For  they  served  and 
worshipped  the  creature  more  than  the  Creator,  and  became  fools !     For  if  an  angel 
will  not  be  worshipped,  hoiv  much  more  will  not  she  that  teas  born  of  Anna,  (Mary)  ?" 
Contra  Haeret.  79.  p.  448.     See  also  Usher  who  quotes  it:  and  Finch,  Controv.  p. 
242. — Again  he  says, — "HMaupt&c.     Let  Mary  be  in  honor,   but  let  the  Lord  be 
worshipped."     Again,—"  Let  Mary  be  in  honor,  and  let  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost  be  worshipped.  Let  no  man  worship  Mary.  This  mystery  is  ordained,  I  say  not 
for  woman,  bat  not  even  for  a  man  ;  but  for  God.  The  angels  themselves  do  not  assent  to 
this  doxology."  Do.  p.  450.  and  449.  And  Usher  in  his  Reply  to  the  Jesuit  Fisher :  p.  345. 
St.  Augustine  claims  your  unwavering  faith  here,  and  surely  one  of  your  demi- 
gods, as  he  is,  must  be  submitted  to  implicitly,  by  every  priest,  who  is  not  a  rebel  to 
the  saints  in  the  ghostly  calendar.     ''Who  is  my  mother,  and  who  my  brethren?'' 
Then  pointing  to  his  (/iScipZes,  he  added, — "these  are  my  brethren,  and  whosoever 
shall  do  the  wall  of  my  father,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and  my  mother,  and  my  sis- 
ter."    Now  hear  St.  Augustine, — "What  else  did  he  teach  us  by  tlijs,  but  that  we 
should  prefer  our  spiritual  to  our  cartial  relationship,"    &c. — "Mary,  therefore,  ivas 
more  blessed  in  adopting  the  faith  of  Christ,  than  in  conceiving  his  flesh.  For  when  one 
said.  Blessed  is  the  womb  that  bare  thee,  he  answered.  Yea  rather  blessed  are  they  that 
hear  the  wrord  of  God  and  keep  it." — "  Her  maternal  relation  would  have  profited  Mary 
nothing,  if  she  had  not  borne  Christ  more  blessedly  in  her  heart,  than  in  her  flesh.'' 
See  Oi)er.  Tom.  vi.  p.  342.  De  Sanct.  Virg.  Bened.  Edit.  Paris,  1685.  How  completely 
does  St.  x\ugusune  here  overturn  and  destroy  the  popish  monstrous  tenet  of  Avorshipping 
Mary  as  "  the  Mother  of  God  !"     "  Rermaternal  relation,"  says  this  Roman  infallible 
oracle, — "  would  have  profited  Mary  nothing  if  she  had  not  borne  Christ  more  bles- 
sedly in  her  heart."     Instead  of  being  "Mediatrix,"  and  a   "goddess,"  and  "inter- 
cessor,"— as  your  priests  feign, — she  needed  salvation  from  Christ,  as  well  as  the 
humblest  sinner.     How  completely  does  St.  Augustine,  then,  annihilate  the  blas})he- 
mous  title  invented  by  the  priests,  and  given  to  Mary,  namely,  "  the  Mother  of  God.''' 
Sixth  : — The  judicial  power  of  your  popes  and  priests  to  forgive  si7is,  is  condemned 
by  scripture,  and  the  Fathers.     The  council  of  Trent,  Sess.  14.  Canon  I.  declares 
penance  a  sacrament,  and  dooms  "to  perdition,"  the  unhappy  man  who  doubts  this, 
or  denies  that   it  was  instituted  by  Christ, — "to  reconcile   those    christians  to  God, 
who  have  fallen  into  sin  after  baptism."     It  is  divided  by  your  priests  according  to  the 
council  of  Trent,  into  two  parts  :  1st.  The  matter,  or  the  acts  of  the  penitent,  contrition, 
confession,   and  satisfaction.     2.  The  judicial  absolution  of  the  priest  in  these  words, 
"  Ego  to  absolve,  I  absolve  thee."     And,  once  in  each  year,  at  least,  must  every  true 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  219 

Roman  catholic  go  to  his  priest,  for  confession,  penance,  and  absolution.  Thus,  at 
one  short  kneeling,  a  man  must  confess  the  sins  of  the  whole  year!  But,  then,  your 
priests  affect,  though  under  the  hazard  of  a  "mortal  impiety,"  to  divide  sin, — 1st  into 
deadlv  sins, — of  which  there  are  only  these  seven  classes, — pride,  covetousness,  luxury, 
anger,  gluttony,  envy,  and  sloth!  2d.  into  venial  sins;  or  those  easily  forgiven;  or, 
to  use  the  words  of  your  writer  Sonnius, — "  venial  sins  are  worthy  of  pardon ;"  or  as 
Bellarminc  hath  it, — "  they  make  not  a  man  guilty  of  eternal  death."  Andradius 
and  your  St.  Bonaventure  are  even  more  accommodating, — "  For  venial  sins,"  say 

tl^ey, "  we  do  not  so  much  as  need  repentance."     Now,  all  sins,  not  ranked  under 

the  seven  deadly  sins,  are  venial.  These  mortal  sins  the  professed  '*  penitent"  affects 
to  confess  in  the  priest's  ears.  And  upon  "  the  exact  confession  of  them,"  says  the 
council  of  Trent,  Sess.  14.  cap.  6.  '*the  penitent  has  absolution  pronounced  on  him, 
not  conditional,  or  declarative  only,  but  absolute,  and  judicial:'  And  thus  the  priest 
pronounces  an  absolute  and  eternal  pardon,  "  not  conditional,"  for  he  cannot  know 
the  heart,  he  cannot  know  whether  the  penitent  does  truly  and  sincerely  repent:  it  is 
'*  not  conditional."  And  the  deluded  man  is  assured  that  he  can  plead  it  before  the 
bar  of  his  Maker,  with  infallible  success  !  The  penance  to  "make  satisfaction,"  is 
some  bodily  suffering,  as  fasting,  kneeling  in  church,  beating  the  breast,  polling  the 
head,  going  in  hair  cloth,  saying  many  Ave  Marias,  or  as  the  simple  faithful  do  in  Ire- 
land, crawling  round  the  course,  at  Loch  Dearg,  or  Holy  Well,  on  their  bare  knees, 
on  the  sharp  pebbles  ;  or  walking  a  number  of  miles  on  pilgrimage,  with  their  shoes 
filled  with  dry  pease,  which  the  "knowing  ones,"  particularly  the  delinquent  priests, 
take  care  to  boil!  But,  all  cases  of  penance  are  dispensed  with,  as  usual,  in  this 
infamous  system,  for  a  stipulated  sum  of  money,  from  25  cents,  to  one  hundred,  or 
five  hundred  dollars! 

This  monstrous  system  of  impiety  is  worse  than  heathenism.  But  this  was  the 
predicted  feature  of  "  Babylon  the  Great,"  the  master-piece  of  popery.  That  system 
stands  out  alone  in  this  eternal  infamy,  that  it  made  merchandize  in  the  souls  of  men." 
The  slave  dealer  traffics  in  human  bones,  muscles,  and  flesh !  But  according  to  the 
prediction  of  John  in  the  Apocalypse,  popery  traffics  in  human  souls.  See  Revel, 
xviii.  13.  Monstrous  as  this  appears  to  every  one,  your  priests,  nevertheless,  affect 
gravity  enough,  to  quote  holy  scripture  for  it.  For  instance,  Matth.  xvi.  19.  is  pres- 
sed in  as  an  evidence.  Peter  "received  the  keys  of  the  kingdom."  Hence  he  has 
the  exclusive  power  "of  binding,  and  loosing." 

Here,  there  is  the  commission  of  manifold  errors  in  pressing  this  text  into  their  ser- 
vice. First,  admitting  it  to  have  been  spoken  exclusively  to  Peter,  it  remains  to  be 
proved  that  your  popes  are  his  successors :  and  even  although  they  were  so,  at  first, 
we  have  demonstrated  by  a  chain  of  evidence  that  no  priest  can  break,  that  the  suc- 
cession has,  in  every  point,  been  cut  of!',  entirely,  and  forever!  Second:  the  power 
of  "binding,  and  loosing,  and  opening,"  whh  the  keys,  was  given  to  the  other  apos- 
tles, in  every  respect,  as  much,  as  it  was  given  unto  Peter.  I  refer  you  to  John  xx. 
23.  "  Jesus  says  unto  them  (the  apostles)  receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost :  whosesoever  sins 
ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them ;  and  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain  they  are  retained." 

But,  third,  this  power  was  given  to  the  church,  who,  by  her  proper  officers,  has  the 
conservative  power  of  discipline,  and  of  restraining  and  casting  out  from  her  holy 
communion,  the  impure  and  wicked.  I  beg  to  refer  you  to  Matih.  xviii.  18.  "Verily 
I  say  to  you,"  says  Jesus  Christ  to  all  his  apostles,  and  ecclesiastical  officers,  in  holy 
•uccession,—" u'Aaisoerer  ye  shall  bind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  heaven;  and  what- 


220  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    COIVTROVERST. 

soever  ye  shall  loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven.  Where  two  or  three  art 
gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them.'"  Hence,  Christ  being 
in  "the  midst  of  us,"  in  his  church,  gathered  in  his  name,  tlie  deed  is  his  own,  when 
duly  done;  and  by  him  is  it  ratified. 

Of  these  things  are  your  priests  wilfully  ignorant,  for  they  are  miserably  defective 
in  theological  science ;  and  the  accurate  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  It  forms,  in  fact, 
no  distinctive  part  of  their  studies! 

By  "the  Jdngdom  of  heaven,"  in  the  gospel,  is  meant  the  church  on  earth.  How, 
else,  could  it  be  compared  to  "  a  field  having  tares  and  wheat  J'  Or  to  "the  net  hav- 
ing fishes,  good  and  bad."  Mattk.  xiii.  47.  Or  the  wedding  feast  chamber,  having 
guests  good-  aad  bad?  But  your  priests,  stupidly  enough,  make  it  the  heaven  above  ; 
and   give  Peter  the  keys  to  open  up  those  gates  which  Christ  alone  opeQed>.  into 

HEAVEjy  ! 

This  point  settled,  the  matter  is  easy.  The  church,  by  her  proper  officers^  exer- 
cises the  keys  of  discipline,  receiving  in  the  truly  penitent,  on  their  confession ::  shut- 
ting out  the  apostate  and  vile :  and  receiving  back  again  the  truly  contrite.  "-The 
power  of  remitting  sins,  given  to»thechurch,"  sajs  bishop  Jeremy  Tayloi's  works,  p. 
587.  "  is  nothing  but  an  authority  to  minister  that  far  don  given  by  Jesus  Christ.'' 
And  St.  Jerome  says,  "  the  church  pardons  sins,  as  the  Levitical  priest  cleansed  the 
lepers; — that  is,,  he  did  discern  whether  they  were- clean  or  not,  and  so  restored  them 
to  the  congregation ;  or  shut  them  out."  And  memorable  are  the  wards  of  St..  Au- 
gustine,— "ApudDeum,  &c..  God  regards  not  the  sentence  of  the  priest;  but  the 
life  of  the  penitent."  He  adds,  "  The  priest  is  something  as  to  the  ministry,  and  the 
dispensation  of  the  word  and  sacraments :  but  nothing  as  to  the  purifying,  and  justify- 
ing of  the  sinner,  for  none  works  that,  in  the  inner  man,  but  He  ivho  created  the  tvhole 
man.!'     S>ee  Bishop  Taylor,  DuctorDub.  p.  587. 

I  arn,  fello\y  citizens,  yours  respectfully, 

W.  C.  R. 


LETTER  XIL 

TO    THE    MEMBERS   OF    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH.. 

On  the  Unity  of  the  Romish  Church. 

"  If  there  is  aught,  thought,  or  to  think,  absurd, 

Irrational  and  wicked,  this  is  more, 

This  most;  the  sin  of  devils,  or  of  tliose 

To  devils  growing  fast."  PoUok. 

Fellow  Citizens: — I  invited  your  attention,  in  my  last,  to  the  judicial  power 
claimed  by  Roman  catholic  priests,  to  forgive,  and  absolve  from  sins. 

This  impious  sj'^stem  of  your  priests,  is  not  only  based  on  the  perversion  of  scrip- 
ture, but  it  is,  in  every  form,  opposed  to  the  whole  system  of  Bible  truth.  "Christ 
is  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith :"  he  has,  by  his  one  sacrifice  forever  perfected 
them  that  are  sanctified :"  "  by  the  deeds  of  the  law,  no  flesh  living  can  be  justified." 
"  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law  being  made  a  curse  for  us."  If 
man  can  make  satisfaction,  Oind  can  propitiate  God  by  pains,  penance,  and  prayers, 
then  is  not  the  atonement  of  our  Lord  perfect?     And  if  not  perfect,  it  is  no  atonement 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  221 

at  alt.  To  make  place  for  penance  and  human  satisfaction,  is  to  utter  the  lie  to  our 
most  blessed  Savior,  who,  when  dying,  said,  in  reference  to  his  atonement, — "/<  is 
Jinishedr^  If  there  be  any  thing  of  the  penalty,  or  the  curse  still  remaining  in  tempo- 
ral evils,  and  afflictions,  then  has  not  Christ  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law! 
That  wretched  priest  who  has  the  audacity  to  hear  deluded  victims  of  popery,  at  the 
confessional,  and  pronounce  his  absolution,  and  pardon  judicially  and  absolutely,  is 
placing  his  vile  carcass  "  in  the  throne  and  temple  of  God,  calling  himself  God !"  That 
miscreant  who  pretends  to  grant  absolution  ;  and  who  gravely  sells  indulgences  for 
money,  does  "traffic  in  men's  souls ;"  and  has  the  insufferable  daring  of  the  atheist  to 
call  men  away  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  to  call  men  away  from  hig  one,  only,  and 
perfect  atonement;  to  call  men  away  from  his  only  avaihng  intercession,  to  his  own 
infinitely  degraded  system  of  chicanery ;  his  miserable  system  of  trading  in  souls  for 
pounds,  shillings,  and  pence !  The  infinity  of  this  littleness,  and  matchless  bathos, 
is  surpassed  only  by  its  matchless  atheism  !  Over  the  whole  pages  of  the  Bible,  this 
one  great,  and  all  pervading  doctrine  is  spread  out,  and  made  most  manifest  to  all,  that 
Almighty  God  alone  pardons  sin:  that  he  does  it  to  the  believer,  only,  for  Christ's, 
sake ;  that  he  cannot,  and  will  not,  deny  his  justice,  insult  his  purity,  or  degrade  his 
Eternal  Son,  by  accepting  of  any  human  merit,  or  any  human  works,  to  fill  up 
the  measure  of  his  all  perfect  atonement.  And,  hence,  these  words  of  Jehovah, 
which  are  the  summary  of  the  gospel :  "  /,  even  /,  am  he  that  blotteth  out  your  trans- 
gressions/or mine  oivn  sake  ;  and  will  not  remember  thy  sins.'*     Isaiah  xliii.  25. 

We  may  sum  up  the  scripture  argument  thus.  The  divine  law  required  no  human 
penance ;  no  works,  to  procure  pardon  of  sin ;  nothing  but  the  sacrifice  only ;  and  that 
pointed  to  Christ's  atonement.  If  God  pardon  sin  for  his  own  name's  sake,  then  he 
does  it,  not  for  the  sake  of  any  sinful  man,  or  impure  priest.  If  the  lamb  of  God  takes 
away  the  sin  of  the  ivorld,  then  no  sinner — far  less  an  impious  priest,  can  do  it.  We 
"are  saved  through  faith  ;  by  grace;  not  of  ourselves;  not  of  works."  Eph.  ii.  8,  9. 
Then  is  there  no  place  for  penance,  none  for  merits,  or  ghostly  buying,  aud  selling  ! 
"God  gives  us,  along  with  Christ,  freely,  all  things."  Rom.  viii.  32.  And,  hence,^ 
he  not  only  grants  us  the  remission  of  sins,  but  remits  the  punishment,  temporal  and 
eternal  also.  Hence,  there  Is  no  room  for  penance,  or  the  impious  intrusion  of 
a  priest's  absolution.  Christ  "  trode  the  wine  press  alone  ;  and  of  the  people 
there  was  none  with  him."  None  could  be  associated  with  him:  none  "could  be 
baptised  with  his  baptism  :"  "he  is  God  :  beside  him  there  is  no  Savior  '  "  His  was 
the  only  name  under  heaven,  by  which  we  can  be  saved."  Hence  there  is  no  place 
for  saintly  intercession,  nor  penance,  nor  ghostly  imposition  of  absolvings  from  sin  ! 

The  case  of  the  woman  convicted  of  adultery,  (John  viii.,)  affords  us  a  demonstra- 
tion on  this  point.  If  ever  our  Lord  had  ordained  penance,  here  it  would  have  been 
enforced.  "But  He  required  of  her  no  penancey  no  satisfaction  for  her  great  sin.  He 
only  sealed  his  pardon  to  her,  and  dismissed  her  saj'ing,  'Go  and  sin  no  more  !' 
Hence  no  satisfaction  for  sin  by  us  is  required  in  the  scriptures." — Luther. 

The  saints  in  heaven  were  saved  by  Christ's  merits  only;  and  their  song  of  grati- 
tude is  the  everlasting  admission  that  they  had  no  merits  of  their  own.  They  had 
nothing  but  what  they  received  of  grace.  And  in  reference  to  their  obedience  to  the 
law  as  a  rule  of  life,  that  law  requires  absolute  perfection,  and  spotless  purity,  in 
soul,  in  tongue,  and  in  the  whole  moral  deportment. 

Now  the  saints  are  far  from  having  any  merits  over  and  above  all  the  requirements 
of  the  law  of  Ck)d,  as  your  priests,  tempting  the  patience  of  heaven,  do  most  auda-. 

20* 


222  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

ciously,  affirm.  They  do  not,  in  this  Ufe,  even  come  up  to  the  smallest  requirement* 
of  the  pure  and  spotless  standard  of  moral  duty.  "In  many  things,"  says  the  highest 
authority,  "they  offend  all."  Jas.  iii.  2.  Hence,  fellow  citizens,  there  is  no  truth  in, 
nor  even  the  slightest  foundation  for  the  ludicrous  fiction  of  priestcraft,  ihat  the  saints'' 
merits,  composed  of  the  materials  of  all  that  perfect  obedience,  in  word,  deed,  and 
thought,  which  they  render  to  God,  over  and  above  all  that  his  holy  law  requires,  are 
carefully  collected  and  laid  up  in  a  golden  heap,  in  the  pope's  treasury  ;  and  that  the 
pope  keeps  the  key  of  this  same  treasury :  and  graciously,  and  very  disinterestedly 
sells  out  for  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence,  the  merchandise  of  the  merits  of  the  saints, 
under  the  name  o^  indulgences  and  absolutions  !  This  profitable  ghostly  manufactory 
has  by  the  wretched  ignorance,  and  infinite  degradation  of  all  popish  nations,  been 
the  pope's  grand  mint !  At  this  he  has  coined  more  money,  counterfeit  coin  I  admit, 
in  his  traffic  in  souls,  than  has  been  coined  at  the  Mint  of  the  United  States ;  or  at 
the  Mint  of  England  !  For  he  has  had  a  brisk  and  uninterrupted  trade  in  souls,  and 
indulgences,  for  more  than  twelve  centuries  !  !  What  devoted  followers  they  are  of 
their  founders,  Judas  and  Simon  Magus  I  ! 

Let  us  now  conduct  you  to  the  Fathers.  St.  Augustine  speaks  in  the  strongest 
terms,  against  the  judicial  powers  of  priests,  or  any  man  to  forgive  sins.  Having 
quoted  the  passage  out  of  John  xx.  23,  and  solved  some  difficulties,  he  goes  on,  thus : 
"  Whose  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted,  &c.  But  since  these  words  are  introduced, 
when  he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on  them  and  said,  receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  then 
was  conferred  on  them  the  remission,  or  retention  of  sin,  it  is  sufficiently  evident  that 
they  themselves  did  not  do  this ;  but  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  their  ag-ency,  as  he  said  in 
another  place ;  It  is  not  you  that  speak,  but  the  Holy  Spirit  who  is  in  you.  See  Aug. 
Oper.  Tom.  ix.  Lib.  2,  p.  42.  Contra.  Epist.  Parmen.  Bened.  Edit.  Paris,  1685. 
Again, — "  Peccasti,  &c.  Hast  thou  offended  thy  brother  ?  Make  satisfaction  to  him." 
These  satisfactions  in  private  and  public  we  admit :  but  satisfaction  to  God,  neither 
he  nor  we  acknowledge."     See,  in  Math.  Serm.  16,  De  Pcenit.  cap.  10. 

St.  Jerome  says:  "The  bishops  and  presbyters  not  understanding  that  passage, 
assume  to  themselves  something  of  the  arrogance  of  the  pharisees,  so  far  as  to  imagine 
that  they  may  condemn  the  innocent,  and  absolve  the  guilty ;  whereas  with  God,  it 
is  not  the  sentence  of  the  priests,  but  the  life  of  the  guilty,  that  is  looked  into."  Then 
having  quoted  the  case  of  the  priests  and  the  leper  under  the  law,  he  adds, — "In  the 
same  manner,  as  the  priest,  there,  made  a  man  clean  or  unclean,"  (that  is,  declared 
them  clean  or  unclean)  "so,  here,  the  bishop  or  presbyter  binds  or  loosens,  not  those 
who  are  innocent  or  guilty,  but  ojjicially,  when  he  has  heard  the  nature  of  their  sins 
he  knows  who  are  to  be  bound,  and  who,  to  be  loosed."     Oper.  Tom.  vi.  in  Math.  16. 

St.  Chrysostom  in  one  place,  speaks  strongly  against  this  power  of  forgiving  sins 
judicially:  "To  forgive  sins  truly,  indeed,  is  possible  with  God  only."  On  ]  Cor. 
15.  Homil.  40.  Tom.  v.  Mogunt.  Edit.  p.  451.  And  against  auricular  confession,  he 
says:  ''' Aia  rovro  &c.  For  this  reason,  I  beseech  thee  and  pray  thee,  to  confess 
continually  to  God.  For  I  do  not  bring  thee  into  the  theatre  of  thy  fellow  servants, 
nor  do  I  call  on  thee  to  discover  thy  sins  to  men.  Uncover  your  consciences  to 
God  ;  and  show  him  your  wounds;  and  seek  a  cure  from  him."  Horn.  5,  De  incomp. 
Nat.  Dei.  Par.  Edit.  1621.  And  his  Homil.  De  Poenit,  et  Confess.  Tom.  v.  Lar. 
Edit,  he  says — "  It  is  not  necessary  to  confess  your  sins  to  witnesses, — let  God 
alone,  see  thee  confessing."  And  farther,  in  speaking  against  the  forgiving  of  sins  by 
priests,  he  says  vehemently:  "  Kat  n  &c.     And  why  do  I  speak  of  the  priests? 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  223 

Neither  angel  nor  archangel  can  perform  any  of  the  things  which  are  given  from 
God.  The  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  administer  all  things.  The  priest  furnishes 
his  tongue,  and  lends  his  hands."  Horn.  8C,  on  John  xx.,  Lat.  Edit.  Basil,  1539.  I 
am  fully  aware  that  this  Father  advances  a  sentiment,  in  his  De  Sacerdote,  quite 
opposed  to  the  above :  and  quite  opposed  to  the  sentence  above,  taken  from  St.  Je- 
rome. But  I  leave  it  to  your  priests  to  quote  that,  to  help  on  my  cause  by  setting 
this  Father  in  arms  against  himself;  and  against  St.  Jerome;  and  against  the 
unanimous  consent ! 

St.  Ambrose  thus  writes  :  "  To  you,  he  says,  I  will  give  the  keys  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  that  you  may  bind  and  loose."  "  What  is  said  to  Peter  is  said  to  the 
apostles."  In  Psal.  38,  Tom.  i.  p.  858;  Paris  Edit,  of  1690.  Again  :  "Ecce  quia, 
&c.  Behold  I  truly,  sins  are  pardoned  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  men  hrmg  a  ministry 
for  the  remission  of  sins;  they  do  not  exercise  the  right  of  any  power."  De  Spir. 
Sane.  Lib  3.  c.  18.  Again  :  "  Sine  peccato,  &c.  No  one  is  without  sin,  but  God 
alone."  "  Also,  no  one  pardons  sin  but  God  only,  because  it  is  written,  who  can  par- 
don sins,  but  God  alone?"     De  Spir.  Sand,  ut  supra. 

Pope  Gregory  I.  the  saint,  who  lived  before  your  modern  popes  and  priests  had 
invented  the  prominent  and  facetious  fictions  of  your  system,  thus  writes  against  the 
judicial  power  of  the  priests  to  forgive  sins  ;  "  Thou  who  alone  sparest,  who  alone 
forgivest  sins.  For  who  can  forgive  sins  but  God  only !"  Greg.  Expos.  2,  in  Sep- 
tem  Psalmos  Poenit.  Bened.  Edit.  Paris,  1705.  Finch,  Controv.  p.  £40.  Thus,  your 
lX)pe  and  saint,  Gregory,  overthrows  the  main  pillar  of  your  priestcraft ! 

St.  Basil  says:  "EX^ero  &c.  Let  the  true  lawgiver  come,  the  powerful  Savior: 
he  alone  having  the  power  to  forgive  sins."     Comment,  in  Isai.  cap.  6. 

St.  Hilary,  in  358,  thus  wTites :  "  Verum  enim,  &c.  But  it  is  true  that  no  one  can 
forgive  sins,  but  God  alone.  Therefore  it  is  God  who  forgives  sins  :  but  no  one  for- 
gives but  God."     On  Math.  Con.  8,  Paris  Edit,  of  1652. 

To  the  same  purpose  writes  St.  Cyprian,  De  Lapsis,  sec.  7.  Edit,  of  Oxford,  1682. 
And  St.  Cyril  speaks  thus  decidedly  against  the  modern  fanaticism  and  extra- 
vagance of  popes  and  priests  ; — "  He  only,  who  is  by  nature  God,  has  the  power  of 
absolving  from  their  sins.  For  whom  does  it  befit  to  release  the  violators  of  the  law, 
but  the  author  of  the  law  himself?"  See  much  more  of  this  forcible  wTiter,  who  con- 
demns your  priests,  in  all  their  impious  system.  Comment,  in  Johan.  lib.  12,^Tom. 
iv.  p.  1101.     Paris  Edit.  1638. 

Finally,  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  in  A.  D.  250  thus  writes;  for  he  and  all  his 
associates  knew  nothing  of  popery  in  those  days :  the  prince  of  hell,  and  the  popes 
had  not  yet  matured  the  lie.  "  Aia  rovro  novos  Wherefore,  he  alone  who  was  appointed 
to  be  our  Master,  by  the  Father  of  all, — can  forgive  sins :  since  he  alone  can  distin- 
guish between  obedience  and  disobedience."  Paidag.  Lib.  1.  cap.  8.  p.  116.  Paris 
Edit,  of  1611. 

I  have  dwelt  longer  on  these  topics,  than  1  had  anticipated :  but  I  was  anxious  to  open 
to  your  view  the  solemn  testimony,  and  sentence  of  condemnation,  passed  by  the  scrip- 
tures and  the  Fathers  on  some  of  the  most  important  dogmas  of  the  church  of  Rome. 
He  who  prays  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  goes  to  a  priest  to  confess  his  sins  and  receive 
judicial  pardon,  is  doing  what  the  sainted  Fathers  condemn  in  the  very  strongest 
terras ;  and  what  Almighty  God  forbids  by  the  mouth  of  his  prophets  and  apostles. 
Hence  he  who  persists  in  praying  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  seeks  absolution  from  a 
sacerdotal  impostor,  is  a  rebel  against  the  "  unanimous  consent  of  Fathers,  is  at  war 


224  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

with  Almighty  GoJ,  who  alone  can  pardon  sin ;  and,  as  an  idolater,  is  in  deadly 
peril  of^  damnation!  See  the  14th  Homily  of  the  Episcopal  church,  entitled,  On  the 
Peril  of  Idolatry.  The  language  which  I  have  all  along  used,  is  feeble  in  comparison 
with  that  of  this  honest,  and  truly  apostolical  Homily  of  the  Episcopal  church.  And 
here,  by  the  way,  let  me  observe  for  the  heneft  of  the  present  generation,  that  of  all  the 
writers  that  have  entered  the  lists,  in  English,  against  the  Roman  Antichrist,  none 
are  more  intelligent,  more  forcible,  more  violent  and  invincible,  than  the  Episcopal 
WTiters.  I  need  only  name  Archbishop  Usher,  bishop  Jeremy  Taylor,  bishop 
Hall,  Chilling\\"orth,  the  immortal  Willet  (Synopsis  Papismi,  folio,)  and  all  the  rest 
of  the  old  genuine  Calvinistic  Fathers  of  the  Episcopal  church  of  England.  For 
there  were  giants  in  those  days ! 

Oct.  5,  1833.  I  am,  fellow  citizens,  yours  &c. 

W.  C.  B. 

P.  S.  Permit  me,  here,  to  record  an  historical  fact,  which  throws  a  new  and  unex- 
pected light  on  two  prominent  attributes  of  Holy  Mother,  and  the  pope:  namely,  their 
immutahilitij,  and  the  pope's  power  to  dispense,  thereby  making  that  which  was  sin  by 
law,  to  he  no  sin.  The  fact  is  this: — only  a  few  days  ago,  it  was  a  mortal  sin  in  a 
Roman  catholic,  to  eat  flesh  on  Saturdays.  This  mortal  sin  was  defined  by  an  infal- 
lihle  law  oiimmutoMe  Rome  ! 

But  bishop  England,  just  amved  from  Rome,  has  promulged  the  immutable  decree 
by  which  the  former  immutable  decree  is  done  away.  The  pope  ha?  made  that 
which  was  lately  a  mortal  sin,  to  be  now  no  sin.  The  simple  faithful  are  permitted  to 
indulge  freely,  of  a  Sa'urday,  in  beef,  pork,  and  mutton,  henceforth,  without  sin,  or 
anv  damage  to  a  tender  conscience,  all  the  former  immutable  laws  of  infallible  Rome 
t.0  the  contrary,  not^vithstauding. 

This,  fellow  citizens,  you  ought  to  hail  as  one  step  towards  your  emancipation  from 
the  yoke  of  a  cruel  foreign  despotism !  You  will,  next,  be  allowed  to  eat  meat  on 
Fridays  also ! 

W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XIII. 

TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

Popery  condemned  by  the  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers. 


"  But  tlie  unfaithful  priest,  what  tongue 

Enough  sliall  execrate  ?     Hi:?  doctrine  may 

Be  passed,  the'  mixed  witli  most  unhallowed  leaven, 

That  proved,  to  those  who  foolishly  partook, 

Eternal  bitterness!''  Pollok. 

Fellow  Citizens: — Bigotry  and  fanaticism  possess  singular  attributes.  In  all 
lands  where  they  have  the  ascendency,  they  answer  arguments  by  sending  their  op- 
ponents to  the  gibbet,  and  the  stake.  These  are  their  last  and  only  arguments  in 
popish  lands.  But  in  Protestant  countries  where  they  are  chaintid  up,  like  the  tiger, 
they  rail  at  all  discussions  of  their  religion  and  pretensions,  as  "arrant  persecution." 
And  they  whine  and  fret  under  unanswerable  argument,  as  *'the  ungodly  raillery  of 
the  reprobate  !"     And,  finally,  when  driven  from  the  field,  by  the  force  of  truth,  they 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  225 

hire  the  anonymous  scribbler,  ^vllo  sells  himself  for  a  morsel  of  bread,  to  abuse  the 
character  of  their  opponents,  and  even  invade  the  decencies  of  family,  and  social 
order.  The  late  controversy  of  your  priests,  and  the  Saturday  columns  of  the  Ro- 
man kennel  press,  notwithstanding  his  late  castigation,  afford  us  painful  evidences  of 
the  truth  of  this. 

My  fellow  citizens,— I  attack  not  the  religion  of  your  fathers.  This  charge  against 
us,  is  one  of  the  sore  evils  under  the  sun,  engendered  by  priestcraft,  and  propagated 
by  their  kennel  i)ress.  Their  cry  is,— "Will  any  thing  persuade  you  to  forsake  the 
religion  of  your  fathers?  Will  you  listen  to  one,  who  would  seduce  you  from  your 
fathers'  religion  ?"  What  impostors  !  What  imposition!  Now  hear  me.  Yo.u  had 
fathers  who  lived  under  the  benign  influence  of  the  genuine  christian  religion^  before 
your  i)riests,  and  the  popes  had  completed  the  invention  of  the  novel  fiction  of  poperj'.. 
Whether  you  come  from  Ireland,  or  France^  or  Scotland,  or  Spain, — your  ancient 
forefathers  enjoyed  Christianity  long  before  popery  was  born,  or  swaddled  by  the 
popes.  There  was  pure  Christianity  in  Ireland,  in  Scotland,  and  in  Spain,  long  be- 
fore the  popish  emissaries  invaded  these  countries,  and  reduced  your  later  forefathers 
to  its  abominations.  In  my  Letter  VIII.  I  have  ])rove(i  that,  during  the  first  six  hund- 
red years,  there  was  not  one  that  was  properly  a  papist.  Your  ancient  fathers  held 
the  same  opinions  in  religion,  that  are  now  held  by  Protestants.  Your  later  ancestors- 
were  seduced  by  a  heartless  band  of  ghostly  impostors,  into  the  atheistical  principles 
of  popery;  just  as  the  children  of  the  Seven  churches  of  Asia  have  been  reduced  by 
tlie  Turks  into /s/rtmis7n.  Now,  what  would  you  think  of  those  iJioJem  Turks,  the 
children  of  christians,  who,  when  urged  and  entreated  to  forsake  Mohammed,  and  be- 
come christians,  would  reply, — "  Will  you  dare  to  seduce  us  from  Islamism,  the  reli- 
gion of  our  fathers?"  W^ould  you  not  urge  upon  them  that  their  more  ancient  fa- 
thers were  true  christians, — and  that  they  ought  to  cast  off  the  imposture  of  Moham- 
med, and  become  what  their  fathers  once  were! 

Now  I  am  doing  nothing  more  than  this.  Your  ancient,  and  well  informed  fathers, 
in  Ireland,  Spain,  France,  Scotland,  England, — were  true  christians,  before  the 
emissaries  of  popery  overran  these  lands.  We  are  imploring  you,  by  the  fear  of  Al- 
mighty God,  and  the  bowels  of  mercy,  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  return  to  the  pure,  and 
holy  religion  of  your  forefathers ;  and  cast  off  the  impostures,  and  fictions  of  popery  ! 
Reject,  with  abhorrence,  the  novelty  of  popery : — return  to  the  ancient,  pure,  primi- 
tive Christianity  of  your  forefathers,  as  it  is  found  in  the  holy  Bible.  Should  a  sedu- 
ced child  of  the  ancient  Greek  church,  believe  his  Turkish  deceivers,  or  the  solemn 
voice  of  Christianity  calling  him  back  to  the  Christianity  of  his  fathers !  Should  you 
rather  believe  the  ghostly  deceivers  who  trade  in  your  souls  and  bodies  ;  and  who  in- 
vented popery  for  this  traiiic,— than  the  deeply  solemn  voice  of  truth  summoning 
you  back  to  the  religion  of  Jesus,  as  held  by  your  forefathers  ? 

But  I  shall  now  go  on  with  my  discussion. 

Seventh  :  Your  priests'  leading  tenet  that  the  holy  Scriptures  arc  not  the  RvU  of 
faith  is  deism;  and  is  condemned  by  the  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers. 

The  arguments  on  the  divinity,  and  perfection  of  the  Bible,  as  the  only  rule  of 
faith,  I  need  not  here  repeat.  Sufftce  it  to  say  that  Almighty  God  has  given  his 
holy  Word  for  this  one  vnique  purpose, — namely,  the  only  rule  of  faith.  And  has 
moreover,  pronounced  it  perfect,  "  The  law  of  God  is.  perfect,  converting  the  soul  : 
the  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple ,  the  statutes  of  the  Lotd 
are  right,  rejoicing  tho  heart ;  the  commandnieQt  of  the  Lord  is  pure,  enlightening 


2'26  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

the  eyes:  the  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true,  and  righteous  altogether."  Psalm  xix. 
*'  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof, 
for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness ;  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect, 
thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  ivorks."  And,  finally,  the  apostle  says  to  Timo- 
tliy, — "from  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  scriptures," — he  says  not  "the  traditions," 
"  the  unanimous  consent  of  uninspired  men," — but  "  the  scriptures,  u'hich  are  able  to 
make  you  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus.''  2' Tim.  iii. 
15.  17. 

Now  hear  the  Fathers  who  condemn  the  modern  system  of  the  infidel  priesthood, 
on  this  matter.  1.  St.  Hilary,  in  the  4th  century  says — "  Fidem,  &c.  Bo  you  seek 
the  faith,  O  Emperor  !  Hear  it  then,  not  from  neiv  ivritings,  but  from  the  hooks  of 
God.''  To  Cons.  Aug.  p.  244.  Paris  Edit.  16.52.  Again,—"  Qu«  Scripta,  &c.  let 
us  read  the  thi7igs  that  are  xoritten,  and  let  us  understand  what  we  have  read  ;  and 
then  we  shall  fully  discharge  a  perfect  faith."     De  Trinit.  Lib.  8. 

2.  Basil  in  369  says, — "  ^avtpa  &c.  It  is  a  manifest  falling  from  the  faith, 
and  a  crime  of  the  greatest  pride,  to  desire  to  take  away  from  the  scriptures,  or  to  in- 
troduce any  thing  that  is  notivritten.  For  Christ  says  that  his  sheep  hear  his  voice, 
and  not  the  voice  of  another."  Sermo  De  Fide  p.  294.  Tom.  ii.  Bened.  Edit.  Paris, 
1722.  Again : — To  yap  vpos  Slc.  It  is  right  and  necessary  that  every  one  should 
learn  what  is  useful  from  tlie  holy  scriptures,  to  furnish  the  mind  with  greater  piety, 
and  also  in  order  not  to  be  accustomed  to  human  traditions."  Reg.  Brev.  Resp.  95.  in 
Tom.  ii.  p.  449. 

3.  Tertullian,  who  lived  in  the  close  of  the  second  centur}',  says : — "  Scriptum,  &c. 
Let  the  school  of  Hermogenes  show  that  it  is  written :  if  it  is  not  written,  let  them 
fear  the  curse  directed  against  those  who  add  or  diminish."  Adv.  Herm.  p.  241.  Paris 
Edit.  1671. 

4.  St.  Ambrose  in  the  close  of  the  4th  century  says: — "  Qufe  in  Scripturis,  &c. 
How  can  we  adopt  those  things  which  we  do  not  find  in  the  holy  scriptures?"  De 
Offic.  Minist.  Tom.  ii.  Lib.  1.  Paris  Edit.  1690.  Hear  him  on  traditions, — Again, — 
"  Lego,  &c.  I  read  that  he  is  first,  I  do  not  read  that  he  is  second:  let  those  who  say 
that  he  is  second,  teach  it  by  reading."     De  instaur.  Virg.  Lib.  1. 

5.  St.  Cyril,  of  Jerusalem,  in  A.  D.  386,  thus  wrote  : — Tovrcjv  rag  &c.  Of  those 
books  (the  Canon  of  Scripture)  "read  two  and  twenty;  but  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  Apocrypha, — jiriSsv  ex^  koivov, — have  nothing  in  common  with  them."  Cat.  4. 
Oxf.  Edit.  1703.  x\gain  : — "  aci  yap  ,  &c.  Not  even  the  least  of  the  divine  and 
holy  mysteries  of  the  faith,  ought  to  be  handed  down  without  the  divine  scriptures." 
M;;(j£  tjiot.  &c.  Do  not  simply  give  faith  to  me  speaking  these  things  to  you  except 
you  have  the  proof  of  what  I  say,  from  the  divine  scriptures.  For  the  security  and 
preservation  of  our  faith  are  not  supported  by  ingenuity  of  speech,  but  by  the  proof  of 
the  divine  Scriptures."     Cat.  4.  p.  56. 

6.  St.  Cyril,  of  Alexandria,  in  the  beginning  of  the  5th  century,  thus  condemns 
the  priests'  fictions,  and  deism; — O  yap  ovk  &c.  For  how  shall  we  receive,  and 
reckon  among  the  things  that  are  true  that  which  the  divine  scripture  has  not 
spoken  ?"     Glaph.  in  Genes.  Lib.  2  Paris  Edit,  of  1638. 

7.  St.  Athanasius, — a  name  sufficient  in  itself  to  be  weighed  against  all  the  popes 
and  priests  whom  antichrist  has  ever  canonized,  or  named, — thus  writes, — "  £(  toivw 
&c.  If  then  ye  are  the  disciples  of  the  gospel,  speak  not  unrighteously  against 
God;  but  walk  in  the  things  that  are  written.     But  if  you  will  speak  any  thing  be- 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  227 

sides  that  which  is  UTi^^en,  why  do  you  contend  with  us,  who  are  determined  neither 
to  hear,  nor  to  speak  any  thing  but  that  which  is  written?  The  Lord  himself  says,  if 
ye  continue  in  my  word,  ye  are  truly  free."  De  Incarn.  Christi,  Paris  Edit,  of  1627. 
And  again  : — "  AvrapKcn  &.c.  For  the  holy  and  divinely  inspired  scriptures  are,  of 
themselves,  sufficient  for  the  discovery  of  divine  truth."     Orat.  Cont.  Gentes. 

8.  Orig-e/i  speaks  thus  admirably,  in  condemning  your  priests' errors  : — "As  all 
gold,  M-hatsoever  it  be,  that  is  without  the  temple,  is  nta  holy;  even  so  every  sense, 
which  is  toithout  the  divine  scripture,  however  admirable  it  may  appear  to  some,  is 
not  holy,  because  it  is  foreign  to  the  scripture.'"  See  his  25  Horail.  in  Math.  Lat. 
Edit.  Basil,  1571.  Again;  "  Consider  how  imminent  their  danger  is,  m;^o  neglect 
to  study  the  scriptures,  in  ivhich  alone  the  discernment  of  this  can  be  osccrtavied.'' 
Lib.  X.  cap.  16.  in  Rom.  Basil  Edit. 

9.  From  St.  Chrysostom  I  could  copy  an  entire  column  of  noble  sentiments,  con- 
demning the  deism,  and  sacrilege  of  your  priests,  who  dare  in  the  face  of  heaven,  to 
deny  the  holy  scriptures,  to  be  the  rule  of  faith  :  and  prohibit  the  use  of  them  to  the 
lay  community.  I  shall  copy  a  few  extracts  from  this  Greek  father; — "What  need 
is  there  of  a  homily  ?  All  things  are  intelligible  and  straight  in  the  divine  scrip- 
ture :  all  things  that  are  necessary  are  clear  /"  Homil.  3.  in  2  Thess.  ii.  Mentz.  Edit. 
Again,  in  his  Homily  on  the  text, — "  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly," — 
he  saj^s,  "Hear, — how  he  enjoins  j'-ou  in  particular  (viz.  the  man  "in  business,  and 
who  governs  a  wife  and  children,")  "to  know  the  scripture,  and  not  lightly,  nor,  as 
it  may  happen,  but  with  great  dihgence."  "If  ^-ou  will  have  nothing  else,  get  the 
New  Testament,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  Gospels,  as  your  constant  teach- 
ers.'''' "Ignorance  of  the  scriptures  is  the  cause  of  all  evil:  we  go  unarmed,  to  the 
battle."  Hom.  9.  in  Epist.  ad  Coloss.  3;  Tom.  vi.  :  Mentz  Edit.  How  utterly  does 
this  eminent  Father  and  saint  overthrow  the  deism,  and  the  impious  fictions  of 
popery  !  And  is  there  one  intelhgent  member  of  the  Roman  catholic  church,  so  tho- 
roughly priest-ridden,  as  to  yield  his  faith  and  conscience  to  the  keeping  of  a  bigotted 
and  ignorant  priest,  who  can  count  beads,  and  mutter  pater  nosters, — it  may  be,  but 
who  is  utterly  ignorant  of  the  Bible,  and  of  the  Fathers  ?  Is  there  a  human  being, 
endowed  with  reason,  who  would  yield  himself  to  the  guidance  of  such  men,  in  pre- 
ference to  St.  Chrysostom?  In  his  Sermons  on  Lazarus,  he  removes,  and  scatters 
to  the  winds,  all  the  objections  of  your  infidel  priests,  who  deny  the  use  of  the  scrip- 
tures to  the  plain  and  unlettered.  He  enumerates  the  objections  of  "  tradesmen," 
and  "  business  men," — he  then  goes  on, — "I  am  engaged  in  the  things  of  this  life  ; 
it  is  not  for  me  to  read  the  scriptures,  but  for  those  icho  have  taken  a  farewell  of  the 
ivorld,  who  dwell  on  the  tops  of  mountains,  and  live  constantly  after  that  fashion. 
What  sayest  thou,  O  man  ?  Is  it  not  thy  business  to  study  the  scriptures,  because 
thou  art  distracted  with  a  thousand  cares  1  It  is  thine  much  more  than  it  is  theirs, 
&x;." 

Your  priests,  to  sustain  their  imposture  of  keeping  the  Bible  out  of  3'our  hands, 
usually  corrupt  the  translation  of  our  Savior's  words, — Search  the  scriptures.  They 
render  it  thus, — "  Ye  do  search ;"  and  thence  take  away  our  Lord's  command.  Now 
hear  Chrysostom  on  this  text.  "He  did  not  say.  Read, — hui,  Epcvmrc, — search  ye 
the  scriptures,  since  the  things  that  are  said  of  him  require  much  research.  For  this 
reason  he  commands  them  to  dig  with  diligence,  that  they  may  discover  the  things 
that  lie  deep."     Hom.  40.  in  Joh.  cap.  5. 

In  his  Serm.  53,  De  Utilit.  Lect.   Scrip,  he  declares  that  in  all  lands,   in  the  east 


528  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

and  west,  and  south,  all  men  read,  and  reasoned  out  of  the  scriptures.  On  the  noted 
text  "all  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God," — he  thus  reasons:  "the  man  of 
God  could  not  be  perfect  without  the  scriptures.  In  the  place  of  me,  says  he,  you 
have  the  scriptures  ;  if  you  desire  to  learn  any  thing,  you  may  therein  do  so.  But  if 
he  wrote  this  to  Timothy,  who  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  how  much  more  did 
he  write  this  to  us  ?"  Homil.  9,  in  2  Tim.  &c.  Mentz  Edit.  Tom.  xii.  p.  602.  Did 
your  priests  retain  th-e  power  of  feeling  compunction  in  their  seared  conscienecs,  or 
possess  the  characteristic  attribute  which  lingers,  to  the  last,  in  fallen  humanity, — the 
faculty  of  blushing  under  crimsoned  guilt, — ^assuredly  this  doctrine  of  the  Greek  Father 
would  make  them  blush,  and  even  writhe  under  his  inflictions ! 

I  cannot  resist  another  extract  from  this  father,  In  which  he  answers  the  objections 
of  sacerdotal  deism  alledged  against  the  obscurity  of  the  Bible.  It  is  true,  no  priest 
has  ever  been  so  stupid,  as  to  believe  what  he  daily  affirms,  on  this  point.  For 
every  man,  possessing  the  le^st  intellect,  cannot  but  know  that  the  Bible,  as  a  book, 
is  plainer,  clearer,  and  more  easily  understood,  than  any  one  of  all  the  canons,  rules, 
and  fictions  over  the  breadth  >and  length  of  popery  I  But  hear  St.  Chrysostom :  after 
having  answeredthe  objection,  How  can  1  understand  them? — he  thus  goes  on  ;  "  It  is 
impossible  that  you,  alone^  should  be  ignorant  of  every  thing.  For  this  cause  the 
grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  has  arranged,  that  publicans,  fishermen,  tent-makers,  and 
shepherds,  and  goat  herds,  and  common,  and  unlearned  men,  should  compose  the 
books  (»3f  the  scriptures)  in  order  that  no -one  of  the  common  people  may  be  able  to 
fiy  to  this  pretence ;  and  that  the  things  declared  may  be  -understood  by  all ;  so  that 
the  artisan,  the  servant,  the  poor  widow,  and  the  most  unlearned  of  all  men,  may  be 
profited  by  the  hearing." 

Ao-ain:  "The  knowledge  of  the  scriptures  is  a  powerful  defence  against  sin;  while 
the  ignorance  of  them  is  a  cieep  precipice,^-a  profound  gulph  !  It  is  a  great  betraying 
of  salvation  to  know  nothing  of  the  divine  laws  !  This  it  is,  which  has  given  birth  to 
heresies:;  and  has  caused  the  corruption  of  morals,  &c."  "'He  therefore,  who  does 
not  use  the  scriptures,  but  entereth"  (as  your  pope  and  priests  do)  "by  some  other 
way,  (namely  by  tradition,)  cutting  out  for  himself  a  way  contrary  to  the  prescribed 
way,^-i?e  is  the  thief!''     De  Lazar,  Concio.  3,  Paris  edit,  of  1621. 

10.  Let  me  next  refiresh  you  out  of  St.  Jerome  :  "The  church  of  Christ  possessing 
churches  in  all  the  world,  is  united  by  the  unity  of  the  Spirit;  and  has  the  cities  of 
the  law,  the  prophets,  the  gospel,  and  the  apostles.  She  has  not  gone  forth  from  her 
boundaries, — that  is  from  the  holy  scriptures  J''  Oper.  Tom.  v.  p.  334  comment,  in 
Mich.  lib.  i.  cap.  1,  Paris  Edit,  of  1602.  How  completely  have  your  priests  and  pre- 
lates "  gone  forth  from  her  boundaries,"  when  they  absolutely  reject  the  scriptures 
altogether,  as  "  the  rule  ;"  snd  have  built  the  -novel  system  of  popery  upon  traditions, 
and  the  dreams,  and  visions,  of  uninspired  saints ! 

11.  I  close  with  extracts  from  St.  Augustine  :  "  Ci  vitas  Dei,  &c.  The  city  of  God 
detests  doubts,  as  the  madness  of  the  Academicians  :  for  she  believes  the  holy  scrip- 
tures of  the  Old,  and  New  Testaments,  which  we  call  canonical ;  whence  our  faith  is 
derived ;  by  which  the  just  lives ;  and  by  means  of  which  we  walk  without  waverings" 
De  Civit.  Lib.  19,  cap,  18,  Tom.  vii.  Bened.  Edit.  Paris  1685,  Again :—"  Licet,  si 
nos,  &c.  //  we,  and  he  added  immediately  what  follows,  or  an  angel  from  heaven, 
declare  unto  you  any  gospel,  besides  that  which  ye  have  received,  in  the  legal  and 
evangelical  scriptures,  let  him  be  accursed."'  Now,  note  this  every  one  of  you.  Here, 
St.  Paul,  and  St.  Augustine  pronounce  heaven'-s  terrific  fulminations  on  your  priests, 


^  ROMAN     CATHOLIC    COXTROVERST.  229 

and  their  whole  S3'stem,  who  in  common  with  deists,  banish  the  holy  scriptures ;  ex- 
clude from  their  chapels  and  altars  the  gospel  of  Jesus ;  and  introduce  "a  new  gospel," 
which  Jesus  never  revealed,  and  which  Paul  and  the  Fathers  never  heard  of,  nor 
conceived  !  See  above  in  Aug.  Oper.  Tom.  ix,  p.  302.  Lib.  3.  Contra,  ix.  Liter. 
Petit.  Edit.  Supra. 

Again  : — "  Who  is  ignorant  that  the  canonical  scriptut-es  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments, are  contained  in  certain  limits :  and  that  it  is  to  be  preferred  to  all  the  subse- 
quent writings  of  bishops  ;  so  that  no  man  can  doubt,  or  dispute  about  it,  whether 
whatsoever  is  written  in  it,  be  true,  and  right,  &c."  lie  then  goes  on,  at  length,  to 
show  that  all  liuinan  writings,  and  councils,  are  to  be  amended  by  this  holy  standard : 
in  fact,  he  places  the  authority  of  scripture  above  all  that  is  human,  and  uninspired. 
See  Tom.  ix.  p.  93.  Bened.  Edit.  Paris  1694. 

.  Li  fine,  he  thus  writes, — "  In  things  openly  set  forth  in  the  scriptures,  all  things 
are  to  be  found,  which  comprise  faith  and  moral  conduct."  Be  Doctr.  Christ.  See 
Tom.  iii.  Lib.  2.  cap.  9. 

And  so  far  is  St.  Augustine  from  admitting  the  authority  of  the  church  to  determine 
and  fix  the  authority  of  the  holy  .scripture?,  as  the  Roman  catholics  do, — tiiat  he  de- 
clares that  it  is  in  the  divinely  inspired  Bible  that  "we  must  seek  the  church."  He 
declares  that  the  holy  church  is  proved  not  by  human  documents,  but  by  the  divine 
oracles."  And  it  was  impossible  that  St.  Augustine  could  be  guilty,  with  your  super- 
ficial priests,  of  reasoning  in  a  circle,  and  thence  proving  the  authority  of  the  Bible 
from  the  church.     See  Aug.  Oper.  Tom.  ix.341.     De  Unit.  Eccks.  cap.  3. 

If  the  priests  can  produce  out  of  his  pages,  a  contradiction  to  these  passages,  I  shall 
be  obliged  to  them.  They  will  thereby  aid  me  in  destroying  their  doctrine  of  the 
unaninioiis  consent. — Thus,  fellow  citizens,  I  have  redeemed  my  pledge  given  to  my 
late  opponents,  the  priests,  that  I  would,  in  the  proper  place,  produce  eleven  of  their 
best  fathers  against  their  anli-christian  rule  of  faith: — and  on  behalf  of  our  Protest- 
ant rule  of  faith,  the  holy  scriptures. 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  yours,  «fcc. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XIV. 

TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

Popenj  condemned  by  Scripture  and  the  Fathers. 

"  For  I  tc-nlfy,— that  if  any  man  sliall  add  to  tho  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book, 
God  shall  add  to  him  the  plagues  that  are  written  in  tliis  book." 

Jesus  Christ,  Rev.  xxii.  18. 

Fellow  Citizens: — In  pursuing  my  argument  on  the  condemnation  of  the  Ro- 
man catholic  church,  I  solicit  your  attention  to  another  fatal  error:  it  is  this: 

Eighth  :— The  impiety  of  your  pope  and  priests  adding  the  apocryphal  books  to  the 
sacred  canon  of  scripture,  is  condemned  by  scripture,  and  tiie  Fathers.  These  books, 
bound  up  in  some  of  our  Bibles,  commencing  with  Esdras,  and  ending  with  Mac- 
cabees,  your  priests  with  an  airectation  of  gravity,  impose  on  their  simple  flocks,  as 

''the  word  of  God.''  This  I  call,  unceremoniously»  ''uttering  a  falsehood  in  the 
name,  and  under  the  very  eye  of  the  Almighty  r     I  beg  of  you  to  be  assured,  fellow 

21 


230  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

citizens,  that  the  authors  of  these  Tracts,  did"  never  even  indulge  the  thought  of  lay- 
ing claim  to  divine  inspiration.  They  were  not  sent  of  Cod:  they  no  where  affirm 
this  :  their  writings  have  none  of  the  evidence  of  their  divine  mission,  as  prophets : 
they  abound  with  puerility,  Jilthiness,  errors,  and  glaring  contradictions.  Let  me  only 
direct  your  attention  to  the  fictions  about  the  angel's  grave  recommendation  to  make  a 
smoke  out  of  the  heart  and  liver  of  a  fish,  to  frighten  away  devils  out  of  men!  Tobit.  ch. 
vi.  7.  and  viii.  3 ;  and  the  disausiing  fiction  about  Tobit's  losing  his  sight.  And,  in  the 
close  of  Maccabees,  the  author  has  not  only  disavowed  all  guidance  of  divine  inspira- 
tion, but  even  apologises  for  his  deficisncies.  And  his  errors  are  numerous  and  even 
ludicrous.  For  instance,  he  puts  Antiochus  three  times  to  death,  by  three  different 
kinds  of  death !  See  1  3Iac.  vi.  16.  And  2  Mac.  1.  15.  16.  And  ch.  9.  And, 
finally,  the  author  was  so  ignorant  of  the  law  of  Moses,  and  the  custom  of  the  Jews, 
that  he  actually  represents  Judas  offering  acceptably,  a,nd  with  applause,  sacrifices  to 
the  dead, — a  thing  never  commanded  by  the  law:  and  never  done  by  the  Jews,  while 
they  were  the  faithful  people  of  God.  And  yet,  fellow  citizens,  this  ludicrous  error 
is  the  only  cause  and  reason  of  this  book  being  admitted  into  the  eanon  by  the  Ro- 
man catholic  priests !     It  countenances  their  prayers  and  sacrifices  for  the  dead  ! 

Now  hear  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers.  Your  priests  do  not  even  pretend  that  the 
Fathers  of  the  Jewish  church  ever  received  these  books  into  their  canon.  All  the 
Jewish  saints  and  fathers,  are,  therefore,  unanimously  against  them.  So  are  the 
best  of  your  own  Fathers,  and  saints. 

Origen,  in  his  list  of  canonical  books,  omits  all  the  apocryphal  books.  See  his 
Commentary  on  Psal.  1.     And  Euseb.  Lib.  6.  cap.  25. 

St.  Athanasius,  in  his  "  Synopsis  of  the  sacred  scriptures,"  gives  a  list  of  the  caiv 
onical  books,  as  we  have  them  ;  and  adds,  at  the  close  of  the  list  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, these  words, — "There  are  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  besides  these, 
which  are  not  canonical.'"  And  having  recited  the  principal  books  of  the  Apocrypha,  he 
adds, — Tocavra  kui  ra,  &c.  Thesc,  and  such  like,  are  not  canonical."  Synops.  Sacr. 
Script.  Paris  Edit.  1627. 

St.  Cyril,  of  Jerusalem,  enumerating  the  canon,  adds, — "  but  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  Apocrypha."  This  he  wrote  in  the  close  of  the  4th  century'.  See  Cyr.  Cat. 
Oxf.  Edit.  1703. 

St.  Jerome  specifies  the  apocryphal  works  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  certain  forged 
works  of  the  New  Testament  times,  and  says, — "these  are  not  canonical, — non  sunt 
canonci — but  are  called  b^  the  ancients  ecclesicstical : — "all  of  which  they  thought 
fit  to  be  read  in  churches  but  not  brought  forward  for  the  confirmation  of  the  faith," 
See  Oper.  Tom.  ix.  p.  186.  Symbol  Rujfini.  Paris  Edit.  1602.  Again, — having  enu- 
merated the  true  canonical  books,  he  adds, — "  Quidquid  extra  hos,  &c.  Whatsoever 
is  without  these,  is  to  be  placed  among  the  apocrypha.  Therefore,  Wisdom,  com- 
monly called  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  and  the  Book  of  Jesus,  the  son  of  Sirach,  and 
Judith,  and  Tobit,  &c.  are  not  in  the  Canon."  See  his  Pref.  to  the  book  of  Kings  : 
Tom.  iii.  Lib.  24. — I  refer  you,  also,  to  Jerome's  Preface  to  Daniel;  he  there  calls 
the  story  of  "Bell  and  the  Dragon,  mere  fables."  So  also  does  St.  Augustine,  in 
his  work,  De  Mirabil.  cap.  32.  lib.  2. 

St.  Cyprian  having  enumerated  the  true  canonical  books,  says:  "  Sciendum  est, 
&c.  It  must  be  known  that  there  are  other  books,  besides  these,  not  canonical,  but 
ecclesiastical,  so  called,  as  Wisdom,  &c."     See  his  work.  In  Symbolum. 

St.  Augustine  goes  all  the  length  of  St.  Jerome  against  the  apocrypha.     His  re- 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  231 

mark  on  Judith  is  a  specimen :— "  The  Jews  are  said  not  to  have  received  it  into  the 
canon  of  the  scriptures  ;  and  it  is  of  small  authority  to  strengthen  any  doctrine  that 
Cometh  into  question."     De  Civit.  Dei.  18.  26. 

The  council  of  LaoJicea,  canon  59,  and  60,  declared  the  fixed  canon  of  scripture, 
enumerating  all  the  books  of  holy  writ;  and  leaving  out  the  apocrypha.  See  Sacr. 
Concil.  L/'^bffii.  et  Cossartii.  Tom.  i.  Paris  Edit.  1671. 

I  am  fully  aware  that  your  priests  are  in  the  habit  of  supposing  three  testimonies 
in  opposition  ♦:o  this  council  of  Laodicea,  and  to  these  testimonies  of  the  Father.-, 
against  their  canon  of  faith;  namely,  the  decree  of  the  council  of  Carthage,  and  of 
two  later  Roman  councils.     These  they  quote  as  favoring  the  apocrypha. 

Now,  shall  I  say  that  this  betrays  imposture,  or  sheer  ignorance  ?  INIark  the  true 
state  of  the  case.  Every  one  of  your  priests  has  access  to  the  Decretals  and  Canons. 
The  council  of  Laodicea  was  ratified  and  confirmed  by  the  canons  of  the  Roman 
church.  In  proof  of  this,  see  Decret.  p.  i.  Dist.  16.  cap.  11.  Nay,  it  was,  also,  sol- 
emnly confirmed  by  the  sixth  General  council,  Canon  2.  as  Gratian  also  witnesses  ; 
See  Decret.  p.  i.  Dist.  16.  cap.  7.  Hence  the  sixth  General  council  became  respon- 
sible, or  rather,  re-enacted  what  that  of  Laodicea  had  enacted.  And  now,  are  your 
priests  so  exceedingly  ignorant  of  their  own  canon  law,  that  they  do  not  know  that 
the  pope  is  sworn  solemnly,  to  observe  the  Eight  General  Councils  :  of  which  the 
Trullane  was  the  sixth?  Hence  your  pope  is  sworn  to  sustain  the  decision  of  the  council 
of  Laodicea,  which  excludes  the  ajjocnjpha! !  And  if  you,  and  he  do  not,  you  -perjure 
your  souls,  and  bring  on  you  a  mortal  sin!  The  proof  the  pope's  oath  and  vow  to  do 
this,  you  can  see  in  Decret.  Par.  1.  Dist.  16.  cap.  8.— And,  moreover,  every  scholar 
knows  that  it  was  decreed  in  the  council  of  Constance,  Session  39 :  and  in  the  council 
of  Basil,  Session  38,  that  ♦'  the  newly  elected  pope  should  take  his  oathnot  to  violate  the 
faith  of  the  eight  General  Councils.  Here  is  the  fullest  and  plainest  historical  evi- 
dence given,  that  in  swearing  to  sustain  the  faith  of  the  eight  General  Councils,  the 
pope  and  all  your  priests,  are  pledged  under  the  penalty  of  mortal  sin,  to  sustain  the 
faith  of  the  Laodicean  council.  Htnce  every  pope,  and  every  bishop,  and  every  Ro- 
mish priest,  are  bound  by  their  oath,  to  reject  the  apocrypha!  If  your  priests,  and 
popes  do  not,  then  are  they  perjured  men  !  But  of  truth  and  verity  i,t  is,  that  the 
pope,  bishops,  and  priests  do  cHng  to  the  apocrypha ! !  Therefore^  they  stand  con- 
victed before  the  pubhc,and  the  christian  world,  as  perjured  men,  before  God  and  man  ! 

This  is  not  all.  By  thus  setting  up  council  against  council,  each  of  which  was 
sustained  by  a  pope,  your  priests  have  ruined  and  annihilated  their  infallibility  and 
immutability ! !  Alas!  poor  Rome!  And,  yet,  this  is  not  all.  1  have  the  testimony 
of  Gregory  I.  pope  and  saint,  against  the  apocrypha,  and  against  the  council  of 
Carthage,  held  in  397,  and  confirmed  by  pope  Innocent  I.;  and  by  t^e  other  two 
Roman  councils.  Pope  St.  Gregory  flourished  in  the  close  of  the  sixth  century.  He 
declares  that  the  Maccabees  belong  not  to  tiie  canon: — Here  are  his  own  words :.-« 
"  De  qua  re,  &c.  Concerning  which  thing,  we  do  nothing  irregularly,  if  we  adduce 
a  testimony  from  the  books  ivhich,  although  not  canonical,  are  published  for  the  edifr- 
cation  of  the  people,"  &c.  He  then  quotes  from  the  books  not  canoniQaL  namely, — 
tlie  Maccabees,— the  account  of  Eleazer,  1  Macvi.  46.  wounding  and  killing  the  ele- 
phant, and  perishing  under  the  falling  animal.  Greg.  Mor.  Lib.  19.  in  Job  39.  Bened. 
Edit.  Paris,  1705.  Hence,  St.  Gregory,  the  i)ope  and  saint,  was  perfectly  atone  with 
St.  Jerome,  and  St.  Augustine,  in  declaring  against  the  apocrypha;  and,  therefore, 
against  your  popes  and  priests, — in  solemnly  condemning  your  rule  of  faith  ;  which 


<*«:> 


R03IAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST. 


embrnccs  these  Ininian  fictions,  and  additions  to  God's  holv  word  I — I  now  leave  mv 
earnest  ap})eal  with  the  American  public,  if  I  have  not  succeeded  bv  the  aid  of  the 
Romish  weapons,  to  pull  down  this,  the  Diain  pillar  of  their  heathen  temple  ! 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  vours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XV. 

TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ROMA>-  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

Popery  condemned  hy  the  Scripivres  and  the  Fathers. 

"  Though  contradicted  evci-A'  day  by  facts, 

That  sopliistry  itself  would  stumble  o'er, 

And  to  the  very  teeth  a  liar  proved, — 

kSlie  cries, — /  lead  the  s)noolhest  tray  to  hcurcn  ! 

Ah  !  none  return  tbat  went  witli  her:  the  ('.^ad 

Are  in  her  house,  her  guests  in  dej>ths  of  hell. 

She  weaves  the  winding  sheet  of  souls  ;  and  lays 

Them  in  the  urn  of  everlasting  death  !"  '  Polloh. 

Fellow  Citize>"s: — I  have  now  reached  what  one  justly  called  the  golden 
doctrines  of  your  priests,  and  the  master-pieces  of  their  superhuman  inventi;  n  ; — doc- 
trines dear  to  every  Roman  priests  heart,  and  fondly  adhered  to,  as  the  subiimest, 
and  most  longed  after,  in  the  whole  cherished  system  of  Holy  Mother, — for  the  best  of 
all  reasons :  they  bring  into  the  ghostly  treasury  the  steadiest  and  greatest  revenues, 
in  their  brisk  traific  in  "human  suuls  !"  I  mean  transuhsiantiation,  the  vwss,  and 
jmrgalory.  I  shnil  devote  my  attention  to  each  of  them,  before  I  retire  from  the  field. 
What  I  intend,  is  a  brief  sketch  of  each,  showing  the  public  that  the§e  are  infamous 
fictions  condemned  by  scripture  and  even  by  your  Fathers.  And  may  I  beg  you  to 
follow  me  in  this  important  discussion  ?  I  do  not  war  against  the  pure  Christianity  of 
your  forefathers.  I  war  againt  the  novelty  of  popery,  which  your  ancient  forefathers 
neither  believed,  nor  even  knew. 

^V  h}' are  you  so  slow  to  receive  instruction,  and  our  warnings  against  your  greatest 
foes?  And  who,  think  you,  are  they  ?  I  shall  answer  by  directing  you  to  a  deeply 
interesting  portion  of  dear  old  Ireland's  historv'.  There  was  a  jjure  apostolic  church 
n  Ireland  before  my  countryman,  your  St.  Patrick,  arrived.  St.  I  bar  was  an  eminent 
man  in  it.  It  was  he  who  declared  to  St.  Patrick, — "that  the  pure  Irish  church  of 
Christ  never  acuiiouiedged  the  supremacy  of  any  foreigner  !'''  For  760  years  this  ancient 
and  pure  christian  church  flourished.  St.  Patrick  was  not  a  Roman  catiiolic  :  he 
and  the  Irish  church  submitted  to  no  popery,  and  to  no  pope  of  Rome  I  This  was 
the  brightest  and  loveliest  period  of  Irish  history.  But,  hear  me,  who  were  the 
traitors?  They  were  the  pope,  and  Henry  II.  of  England.  They  conspired  the 
subjugation  of  Ireland.  Henry  overran  Ireland,  and  betrayed  it  to  the  Roman  pope. 
This  national  degradation  and  ruin  were  consummated  in  the  traitorous  council  of 
Cashel,  in  A.  D.,  1172.  Popery,  from  that  year,  overran  Ireland  :  her  pure  christ- 
ian pastors  were  driven  off,  and  destroyed  :  impious  priests  of  Rome  ruined  your 
fathers'  lovely  christian  church.  And  England  has  held  your  land  in  bondage  to 
this  da}'.  The  pope  was  the  instigator,  and  Henry  II.  the  tool.  The  pope,  therefore, 
and  the  k:ing  of  England,  were  the  despots  and  traitors  who  compassed  tlie  ruin  of  old 

i 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVKRST.  233 

Ireland.     Sec  Dr.  O'Halloran's  Roman  catholic  antiquit'ut ;  and  O'Driscoirs   Vitict 
of  Ireland,  vol.  ii.  p.  85. 

Is  tbe  spirit  of  your  prinnilive  fathers  fled  and  gone?  Is  there  none  of  the  pure 
Irish  families  left  to  rise  up  ai,'ain?t  the  predominant  Roman  party  who  have  ruined, 
enslaved,  and  beggared  your  country  ?  If  there  be,  then  hear  me.  Side  byside  with 
vou,  I  war  ar^ainst  the  gross,  degrading,  and  impious  inventions  of  men;  against  a 
ghostly  despotism,  which  has  riveted  its  chains  on  your  immortal  souls ;  and  which 
your  ancient  and  primitive  fathers,  in  the  old  world,  would  have  dashed  from  them 
with  horror.  I  wage  war  against  the  impieties,  fictions,  and  heaven  daring  knavery 
of  Roman  priestcraft.  I  war  against  a  system, — not  only  not  found  in  the  Bible, 
but  condemned  in  it,  by  the  Almighty  God,  our  Redeemer  !  I  humbly  ofTer  you  aid 
against  men  who  have  "traded  in  human  souls;"  who  have  their  stipulated  price 
for  every  species  of  sin  and  crime;  their  price  of  each  soul, — be  the  man  rich  or  poor. 
I  war  against  men  who  profess  to  open  heaven's  gate  unblushingly,  for  money  :  men, 
who  are  so  destitute  of  the  bowels  of  mercy,  that  they  will  not  pray  one  of  you  out  of 
pumatory  without  money  ; — men  who  would  let  iheir  best  friends  and  neighbors  lie 
in  "flaming  waves  of  purgatory,"  for  millions  of  years,  unless  they  are  bought  by 
lar^e  sums  of  money,  to  do  this!  We  come  as  humble  aids,  to  assist  you  against 
impostors  and  barbarous  despots,— -compared  to  whom  Mohammed  was  pure ;  and 
Nero,  mild  and  merciful !  You  cannot,  then,  fellow  citizens,  with  any  show  of  reason, 
or  justice,  deem  me  your  enemy  when  I  ttll  you  the  truth .'  Be  this  as  it  may,  I  tell 
you  with  deep  solemnity,  that  there  is  a  day  coming, — if  not  in  time,  before  you  die, — 
most  certainly  in  eternity,  and  at  the  bar  of  our  common  Judge,  the  Lord  Jesus,  when 
you  and  these  priests  shall  know  whether  I  have  spoken  the  truth  to  you  ;  and  warned 
vou  in  tlie  name  of  the  Eternnl  God  I  To  that  day  I  desire,  with  humble  devotion, 
to  carry  forward  my  ajjpeal  to  God,  and  your  consciences.     I  now  go  on. 

yinth  : — The  doctrine  of  tTanauhstantiation  is  condemned  by  scripture  and  th© 
Fathers.  In  this  doctrine  unmatched  by  dogma  of  Turk,  or  Brahmin,  your  priests 
afiect  with  as  much  gravity,  as  they  can  pyt  on,  for  the  time,  to  teach  and  persuade 
vou  to  believe  what  no  one  of  them  in  their  sober  senses  ever  believed  : — namely,  that 
by  the  muttering  of  the  few  Latin  words, — ^'hoc  est  corpus  mewm,"  &c.,  the  little 
wheat  wafer  is  actually  "chan^-ed  into  Christ's  body  and  blood,  soul  and  divinity;" 
and  the  wine  in  the  chalice,  "  into  his  real  blood,  bo^Jy,  soul,  and  divinity."  See 
Gratiani  Decretum,  p.  ."349,  De  consecratione  Bhl.  ii.,  are  these  words, — "  After  tho 
consecration  of  the  bread  and  wine,  the  true  body  and  blood  of  Je.sus  Christ  are,  in 
reality,  and  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  senses,  (sensualiter,)  handled  by  the 
priest;  and  broken,  and  crushed  by  the  teeth  of  the  faithful." — See  also  Canones  tt 
df.craa  Concil  Tridenli,  Lngd.  F:dit.  1824  Sess.  13,  cap.  4,  Trent  Catech.  De  Sac. 
Kuch.  Sect.  33.  And  in  section  31.  That  "  holy  council"  taught  that  "  a  whole 
Cliiist"  is  in  the  wafer,  even  liis  body,  bones,  and  sinews  :"  verurn  Christi  Corpus, — 
veluti  ossa,  et  nervos,  &X'."  And  my  friend  Dr.  Aver\',  who  spent  a  winter  in  Rome, 
told  me  that  he  once  saw  two  of  the  priests  in  that  city,  lake  the  wafer,  and  as  they 
chewed  it,  they  grinned,  and  said, — "hear,  howl  cranch  his  bones,  nerves,  and 
sinews  I"  I  have  two  copies  of  this  section  of  the  Trent  catechism  before  me,  one 
in  Latin,  and  an  ancient  English  copy.  These  have  the  words, — "his  body,  bones, 
nerves,  sinews,"  are  in  ilie  transubstantiated  icnfer.  But  I  am  also  aWare,  and  I  shall 
here  impart  the  ser-ret  to  you,  that  in  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  priests,  in  their  newly 
assumed  power  to  change  even  the  catechism  of  their  last  holy  council  of  Trent,  hav# 

21* 


234  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

actually  left  out  this  shocking  cannibal  phrase,  about  ^'his  bones,  nerves,  sinews,'^ 
being  in  the  wafer.  The  above  Latin  is  quoted  from  the  Venice  Edition  of  the  Trent 
Catech.  of  1582.  page  241.     See  also  the  ancient  English  Edit.  p.  212. 

Your  priests  quote  two  passages  to  prove  this  monstrous  and  incredible  doctrine. 
The  1st  is  John  ch.  vi.  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  son  of  man,  ^-c.  This  they 
take  literally.  If  this  be  correct,  then  they  must  take  the  other  expressions  as  literally. 
For  instance,  "  he  that  eatethof  this  bread  shall  live  for  ever."  Of  course,  if  they  be 
correct,  then,  all,  each,  and  every  one,  without  exception,  who  eats  of  the  wafer, 
which  is  Christ's  flesh,  shall  infallibly  be  saved  ;  and  all  who  eat  it  not, — as  baptized 
infants,  and  thousands  of  adults, — and  among  others  the  penitent  thief  on  the  cross, — 
even  all  these  must,  according  to  the  Romish  doctrine,  be  damned !  Nay,  if  we  take 
the  words  literally,  in  one  part  of  the  sentence,  we  must  do  so  in  the  whole.  Hence, 
*'he  that  eats  of  this,  will  never  hunger,  literally: — never  thirst  literally."  John  vi. 
35.  Of  cour -e,  if  the  priests  be  orthodox — all  who  have  been  so  happy  as  to  eat  their 
wafer,  will  bid  a  glorious  farewell  to  all  the  trouble  of  eating  and  drinking.  They 
will  never  more  hunger,  never  more  thirst!  What  glorious  news  for  our  poor  hard 
working  laborers !  Only  go  the  priest,  and  secure  the  wafer, — he  will  keep  all  the 
wine  to  himself,  it  is  true,  but  no  matter,  in  the  wafer  you  have  "the  whole  bod\% 
bones,  and  nerves,  and  sinews," — and  you  will  nevermore  hunger  after  eating  this: 
never  more  thirst !  You  will  need  no  more  foot! !  You  need  never  go  to  market !  So 
monstrously  absurd  are  the  doctrine,  and  the  proof  thereof!  Does  the  priest  soberly 
believe  that  his  victims  are  rational  beings ! 

The  other  proof  of  "  the  learned  priests,"  who  are  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  3'ears 
behind  the  Protestant  world  in  knowledge,  and  general  literature,  is  this:  ''This  is 
my  body :  this  is  my  blood  of  the  iiew  covenant." 

This  they  interpret  literally  ;  and  venture  to  teach  that  this  means  that  the  wafer 
is  truly  Christ's  flesh,  and  bones,  and  bod3\ 

But  our  Lord  says  in  John  vi.,  "  /am  the  living  bread  which  came  down  from  heaven.'^ 
Of  course,  this  must  be  taken  literally.  Hence,  in  the  Romish  mode  of  interpreting, 
our  Lord  was  most  certainly  transubstantiated  into  a  piece  of  rea/  bread;  that  this 
piece  of  real  bread  had  animal  life  in  it:  and  that  this  "animated  bread,"  literally 
came  down  from  heaven.  The  priests  are  bound,  in  honor  and  principle,  to  believe  all 
this,  and  make  the  victims  of  their  superstition  believe  it,  if  they  believe  in  transubstan- 
tiation.     But  this  is  not  all. 

Were  your  priests  biblical  scholars, — and  did  they  know  the  elements  of  Hebrew 
literature,  they  would  know  what  every  Hebrew  tyro  knov^^s,  that  the  Hebrew  and 
Syriac  languages  have  no  term  to  express  the  word  "  signify.'"  They  always,  of 
course,  use  the  word  "  is."  Let  any  man  open  his  Bible,  and  see  the  proof.  Here 
are  some  instances:  "The  seven  ears  are  seven  years:"  "  the  seed  is  the  word  :  "  the 
seven  candlesticks  are  the  seven  churches :"  "the  woman  is  the  great  city:"  (Rev. 
xvi.  18.)  "  Judah  is  a  lion's  whelp  :"  "  all  flesh  is  grass"  "  the  lock  of  hair  is  Jeru- 
salem."    Ezek.  V.  1,  .5. 

Now,  if  the  Ronjan  priests'  interpretation  of  the  sentence, — "  this  is  my  body,"  be 
just  and  correct, — then  the  seven  ears  of  corn  were  converted,  substantially  and  really, 
into  seven  years  of  time!  The  seven  cows  were  really  converted,  bones,  hides,  and 
horns,  into  seven  years !  The  seed  of  wheat  was  converted,  in  the  hands  of  the 
astonished  sower,  into  the  pure  and  real  word  of  God !  The  seven  candlesticks  were 
ehanged  substantially  into  the  magnificent  and  splendid  array  of  seven  real  churche« 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST.  235 

Judah  was  doomed  by  this  doctrine,  to  be  a  yelping  lion's  whelp!  All  flesh,  human 
and  bestial, — even  each  on«  of  our  bodies,  is,  by  an  unparalleled  hocus  pocus,  become 
the  green,  long,  waving  grass!  And  last,  though  not  least, — a  lock  of  hair,  shorn  off' 
by  the  barber,  is  in  the  hands  of  the  astonished  prophet,  marvellously  transubstantiated 
into  a  solid,  beautiful,  walled  city, — even  Jerusalem  !  Verily,  we  need  only  give  ^le 
Roman  priests  elbow  room,  in  abundance,  and  no  man  will  be  so  stupid,  or  ungene- 
rous, as  to  say  that  the  age  of  miracles  is  past !  ! 

I  shall  not  insult  my  reader's  understanding  by  insinuating  that  any  man  in  the 
exercise  of  reason,  will  say  that  this  monstrous  doctrine  finds  any  countenance  from 
reason  or  the  holy  scriptures.  We  do  the  Roman  priest  no  injustice  when  we  say, 
that  no  man  has  ever  susjyected  them  of  believing  in  it  any  farther  than  the  counterfeiter 
and  issuer  of  base  coin,  does  believe  in  his  own  base  manufactory'.  He  believes  in  it, 
just  so  far  as  it  robs  his  victim  of  his  money,  and  enriches  himself  at  the  expense  of  the 
ignorant  and  unwary.  So  has  the  public  said  for  many  centuries  !  He  believes  in 
in  it  just  so  far  as  it  puts  his  victim's  gold  and  silver  into  his  own  purse !  ! 

It  is  worthy  of  the  notice  of  our  learned  men,  and  those  who  have  reformed  the 
philosophy  of  the  schools,  that  the  Roman  catholic  pope,  and  priests,  who  are  as  far 
behind,  in  the  improvement  of  philosphy,  as  are  the  Mohammedans,  and  some  of  the 
Hindoos,  avail  themselves  of  defence  from  the  old  exploded  philosophy  of  Aristotle. 
While  all  the  learned  and  enlightened  world  reject  the  absurdities  in  the  system  of 
Aristotle,  the  Roman  priests,  enveloped  in  the  fogs  and  mists  of  the  eighth  and  ninth 
centuries,  believe  more  in  Aristotle,  than  in  the  Bible  :  and  bring  in  to  the  aid  of  their 
monstrous  doctrines,  his  savage,  and  antiquaied  sophisms  ;  namely,  that  "  tJiere  may 
be  taste,  wherenothing  is  to  be  tasted  ;  that  there  may  be  color,  without  any  thing  to  be 
represented  ;  tangibility,  without  any  thing  to  be  touched;  roundness,  ivithout  any  thing 
that  is  round,  &c."  And  when  the  progress  of  science  sweeps  away  the  remains  of 
the  barbarism  of  Aristotle;  and  the  false  philosophy  of  the  East, — that  same  light 
which  scatters  the  darkness  and  barbarism  of  Turkey,  and  Hindostan,  and  China,  will 
help  to  sweep  away  Romanism  from  the  face  of  the  earth! 

The  Roman  priests  are  at  one  with  the  Unitarian  here  ;  and  affect  to  say  that  the 
same  objection  which  we  cherish  against  this  conversion  of  a  wafer  into  Christ's  bones, 
muscles,  sinews,  soul,  and  divinity,  does  militate  equally  against  the  mystery  of  trinitv. 
The  cases  are  infinitely  different.  In  the  most  Holy  Trinity  there  is  no  contradiction 
to  reason,  and  the  evidence  of  the  senses.  The  doctrine  of  trinity  holds  out  the  God- 
head to  be  three  in  one  sense,  and  one  in  another  sense.  When  I  say  that  God  is  one 
in  essence,  and  three  in  persons,  I  say  nothing  contradictory.  I  can  say  I  have  "  a 
soul,  a  body,  and  a  spirit ;"  and  yet  I  am  one.  But  to  say  that  my  body  is  a  wafer ; 
or  that  a  wafer  is  Christ's  bones,  sinews,  muscles,  soul,  and  God-head :  that  a  priest 
makes  and  creates  his  Creator,  and  then  eats  him,  is  beyond  conception,  mon- 
strously absurd !  It  sets  reason,  and  the  evidence  of  the  senses;  and  all  gravity 
utterly  at  defiance ! 

Your  priests  say,  *'Why  is  it  incredible  :  Almighty  God  can  do  it!"  Very  true, 
but  has  he  converted  it  into  Christ?  The  Almighty  can  annihilate  idolaters ;  has  he 
done  it,  while  your  priests  are  alive  ! 

"But  the  church  of  Holy  Mother  is  a  witness  that  he  does  it."  No,  fellow  citizens ; 
the  testimony  of  Rome,  is  the  testimony  of  the  "  Man  of  sin."^ 

*'But  the  real  jrresence  of  Christ  is  in  the  wafer, — it  can  be  no  idolatry,  therefore, 
to  worship  the  host !"     The  real  presence  of  God  is  in  all  the  works  ofnature,heisin 


336  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

that  tree  in  that  river,  in  that  stupendous  mountain, — vfould  you,  therefore,  worship 

tiiese  ? 

This  doctrine  contradicts  all  the  evidence  of  all  my  senses.  Now,  it  is  just  as 
much  the  fixed  and  immutable  law  of  his  government  of  nature,  that  1  should  be- 
lieve the  evidence  of  all  my  senses, — as  it  is  the  fixed  law  of  his  kingdom  of  grace, 
that  I  should  believe  the  testimony  of  his  Word.  This  monstrous  fiction,  therefore, 
seduces  you  into  a  violation  of  God's  immutable  laws :  it  makes  you  infidels  against 
the  God  of  nature  !     This  is  not  all  of  its  evil  consequences. 

If  I  distrust  the  strongest  evidence  of  my  senses,  I  must  be  an  unbeliever  in  mi- 
racles. If  I  stood  b3%  and  saw  our  Lord  raise  Lazarus  from  the  dead ;  if  I  believe  in 
vour  transuhstantiation,  I  could  not  confide  in  my  senses  ;  taught  as  you  are,  to  believe 
contrary  to  the  evidence  of  my  senses,  I  could  have  no  abiding  faith  in  our 
Lord's  miracle.  It  might  seem  to  me  that  I  saw  Lazarus  rise ;  but  I  could  not  believe 
it  certainlv;  the  wafer  seems  just  as  certainly  to  my  senses  to  be  a  wafer  as  that  rising 
of  the  dead  man ;  yet  it  is  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  really !  It  may  seem  a  resurrec- 
tion, it  may  seem  a  miracle,  but  I  cannot  trust  my  senses  :  I  cannot  believe  the 
miracle  !  Hence  no  man  who  believes  the  dictate  of  your  priests  here,  can  believe 
in  miracles ;  nor  be  a  consistent  christian. 

And  this  is  not  all ;  the  man  who  does  really  believe  in  transubstantiation,  never 
can  be  relied  on,  as  a  witness  to  give  credible  testimony  on  any  thing.  Suppose  in  a 
case  of  murder,  a  real  believer  in  this  fiction  is  brought  to  testify.  The  bench  says, 
"  look  on  the  prisoner  at  the  bar ;  did  you  see  that  man  inflict  the  blow  that  killed  the 
deceased  ?"  He  says,  "  I  did  ;  I  heard  him,  I  saw  him  do  it.  That  is  the  identical 
man."  "  Take  care  what  you  say,"  replies  the  counsel  for  the  criminal, — "  bring 
no  false  charges  ;  for  any  thing  that  the  evidence  of  your  senses  can  make  you  believe 
to  the  contrary,  that  thing  standing  there  at  the  bar,  may  really  be  a  piece  of  bread  !'* 

"  Why,  sir,  I  cannot  be  deceived ;  I  see  him;  1  know  him;  I  feel  him  ;  I  hear 
him;  and  I  say,  he  is  the  one  who  murdered  the  deceased." 

"No,  sir,  let  me  correct  you;  you  firmly  beheve,  maugre  all  the  evidence  of  all 
your  senses,  that  the  priest's  wafer  is  the  very  body,  blood,  bones,  soul  and  divinity  of 
Christ!  You  believe  this  on  the  priest's  word,  in  opposition  to  all  the  evidences  of 
your  senses.  Now,  my  word  is  as  good  as  the  priests'  word  ;  and  I  say,  as  solemnly 
as  he  says,  and  as  seriously  and  truly  as  he  says,  that  the  thing  that  you  see  at  the  bar 
is,  in  fact,  a  loaf  of  brown  bread !  And,  sir,  if  you  believe  the  one,  and  profess  to  deny 
the  other,  you  are  a  knave.  Hence,  on  no  principle  of  consistency,  canyon  be  a  wit- 
ness here  !"     Exit,  in  sUeniio  alto  I 

And,  yet,  unconvinced  by  argument,  or  by  ridicule,  enslaved  minds  will  do  as  their 
masters  bid  them;  and  will,  as  in  duty  bound,  believe  just  as  honestly,  and  as  truly, 
that  a  bit  of  a  wafer  is  the  bod}-,  soul,  and  di\dnity  of  Christ, — as  do  a  nation  of  the 
Asiatics,  that  our  world  is  a  great  smooth  body,  as  flat  as  a  pancake;  and  borne  up 
by  the  back  of  a  huge  land  turtle  ! 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B, 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  237 

LETTER  XVI. 

TO  THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

Popery  condemned  by  Scripture  and  the  Fathers. 

"  Mon  cher  Ddphini,  sure  you  will  agree, 
That,  for  a  bishop,  none  so  tit  as  h(\ 
•  Who  gives  the  king  such  very  good  avis  .'" 

Fellow  Citizens  : — We  have  heard  the  voice  of  reason,  common  sense,  and 
scripture,  on  the  fiction  of  transnbstantiation ;  now  let  ns  hear  the  Fathers, — They 
tanght  that  the  bread  and  wine  were  consecrated,  simi)ly,  from  a  common  to  a  holy 
use, — sacramentaily  to  signify  Christ's  body  and  blood. 

1.  St.  Iren-eus  of  the  second  century,  bears  ample  testimony  that  tliis  doctrine  was 
unknown  to  the  church,  in  liis  days.  "All  the  bread  wliich  is  of  the  earth,"  says  he, 
"when  it  has  received  the  divine  invocation,  is  no  longer  common  bread,  hut  the 
eucharist,  consisting  of  two  things,  an  earthly  bread,  and  a  heavenly.  Thus,  also,  our 
bodies,  when  they  have  received  the  eucharist,  are  no  longer  corruptible,  having  the 
hope  of  eternal  life.'''  Contra.  H^fres.  Lib.  4.  cap.  16.  p.  251.  Benedict.  Edit.  1710. 
And  Bellarm.  De  S.  Each.  Lib.  2.  cap.  2.  This  ancient  Father,  it  is  obvious,  held 
the  true  apostolical  doctrine,  that  the  bread  was  still  earthly  oread,  anil  a  symbol  of 
the  heavenly  food^  after  invocation. 

2.  iS^  Ignatius  gives  no  countenance  to  your  priests, — "Eva  aprov  &c.  Break- 
ing one  bread,  which  is  the  medicine  of  immortahty,  the  antidote  by  means  ot 
which  we  shall  not  die,  but  live  forever."  Epist.  Ad  Ephes.  Oxf.  edit.  1708. 
Again; — "If  any  one  is  without  the  altar,  deprive  him  of  the  bread  of  God."  He 
says  not,  "  the  flesh  of  Christ  and  his  divinity."  Again; — "Do  you,  then,  resuming 
long  sutlering,  re-establish  yourselves  in  faith,  which  is  the  flesh  of  Christ  our  Lord; 
and  in  love,  which  is  the  blood  of  Christ."     Epist.  Ad  Trallesios. 

3.  Gelasius  L,  the  pope  who  wrote,  in  492.  Having  noticed  that  the  sacraments 
are  divine  things,  by  which  we  receive  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  he  says ; — 
"  Tamen  esse,  &c.  However  the  substance,  or  ntiture  of  the  bread  and  wine  ceases  not 
to  exist:  and  assuredh'  the  image  and  similitude  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are 
celebrated  in  the  performance  of  the  mysteries.'"  Gelas.  In  duab.  Nat.  in  Christo 
contra  Eutych.  This  strong  and  most  decisive  testimony  of  a  poi)e  against  the  re- 
volting fiction  of  the  mass,  does  of  course  meet  with  opposition  from  your  popes. 
But  your  own  writer  Dupin  exhibits  the  certain  and  conclusive  evidence  of  the  au- 
thenticity of  this  part  of  Gelasius'  writings,  by  four  arguments.  See  Dupin's  Nouvelle 
Biblioth.'  5  cent.  Edit.  Utrecht,  1731.— Finch,  pp.  242,  243. 

4.  St.  /fj/ary  wrote  thus :—"  In  fide,  iScc.  For  the  sacrament  of  the  heavenly 
bread  is  received  in  the  faith  of  the  resurrection  ;  and  whosoever  is  without  Christ, 
ghall  be  loft  fasting  for  the  food  of  life."     P.  531.  Edit.  Paris,  10.52. 

5.  St.  Cyprian, — "Nam  quia,  <Scc.  For  since  Christ  carried  us  all,  and  since  he 
bore  our  sins,  we  see  that  the  peoj)le  is  understood  by  the  water;  and  that  the  blood 
of  Christ  isshoim  by  the  wine.''     Epist.  Ca?cil.  Fratri,  05,  p.  153.  Oxf.  Edit.  1582. 

0.  St.  Ambrose  says, — "  In  comedendo,  «Scc.  In  eating  and  drinking  the  things 
offered  to  us,  we  sirrnify  the  flcsli  and  the  blood.  You  receive  the  sacrament  as  a 
similitude;  it  is  the  f  gun  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord:  you  drink  the  likeness 


238  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

of  his  precious  blood.^^     De  Sacram.  Lib.  4.  cap.  4.  Paris  Edit.  1690.     How  sensibly 

and  thoroughly  does  St.  Ambrose  oppose  your  priests'  fictions  I 

7.  Tertullian  wrote  after  this  manner, — "  Acccptum,  &c.  The  bread  which  he 
had  taken  and  distributed  to  his  disciples,  he  made  his  bod}',  by  saying  this  is  my  body, 
that  is, — the  figure  of  my  body.  He  then  goes  on  to  notice  the  words  of  Christ  in 
John  vi.,  and  shows,  in  our  Lord's  words,  that  the  phrase  is  to  be  taken  not  corporally 
and  fleshly,  but  spiritually.  See  Advers.  Marci.  Lib.  5,  p.  4.58.  Edit.  Paris,  1675; 
and  De  Resur.  Cam.  cap.  37.  p.  347. 

8.  St.  Theodoret  says,  first,  in  his  Dialogue  II.  in  the  name  of  the  ill  informed 
Eranistes,  that  "the  symbols  after  invocation  are  changed  and  become  another  thing, 
&:c."  He  then  corrects  him,  and  gives  his  own  mind  thus, — "  You  are  taken  in  a  net 
that  you  made  yourself.  For  the  mystical  signs  do  not,  after  consecration,  depart 
from  their  own  nature.  For  they  remain  in  their  former  substance,  figure,  and  form, 
and  may  be  seen  and  touched  as  before.^'     Paris  Edit.  1608,  in  Latin. 

9.  Eusebius  says, — IluXtr  yao  &c.  For  again  he  gave  to  his  disciples  the  sym- 
bols of  the  divine  economy,  and  he  commanded  them  to  make  the  image  of  hisown 
body."  Again, — "  He  commanded  them  to  use  bread  as  the  symbol  of  his  own 
body."     See  Demonst.  Evang.  Lib.  8.  cap.  I.Paris  Edit.  1544. 

10.  Justin,  the  Martyr,  thus  wrote  in  150, — ''Onycvow  &c.  I  also  affirm  that 
the  prayers,  and  the  praises  of  the  saints  are  the  only  perfect  sacrifices  acceptable 
to  God.  For  these  only  have  the  christians  undertaken  to  perform :  and  by  the 
commemoration  of  the  wet  and  the  dry  food,  in  ivhich  we  call  to  mind  the  sufferings 
which  the  God  of  gods  sufi[ered  through  Him  whose  name  is  blasphemed,  &c."  See 
his  Dial,  ivith  Trypho  the  Jew  ;  Paris  Edit.  1515.  p.  345. 

11.  St.  Cyril,  of  Jerusalem,  writes: — ''Evtvwco  &.c.  In  the  type  of  the  bread  is 
given  to  you  the  body,  and  in  the  type  of  the  wine  is  given  to  you  the  blood,  that  you 
may  be  a  partaker  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ;  and  one  body  and  one  blood 
with  him.''  Catech.  Mystic  4. 1,  p.  292,  Oxf.  Edit.  1703.  Again  :— "  Tevo,xtvoi  &c. 
For  they  tasting,  are  not  ordered  to  taste  of  the  bread  and  the  wine,  but  of  the  anti- 
type of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.''     Cat.  Myst.  5.  17.  p.  300,  Finch,  p.  202. 

12.  Clemens  Alexandrinus  is  full,  and  exphcit  against  your  priests,  and  iheir  novel 
figments.  He  wrote  thus  in  A.  D.  220; — "Emi6e  &c.  And  then  he  said  the  bread 
that  I  will  give  you  is  my  flesh :  but  flesh  is  irrigated  by  blood  ;  therefore  the  wine 
allegorizes  the  blood."  Again, — "Thus  the  word  is  fre(|uently  described  allegorically 
as  food,  and  flesh,  and  bread,  and  blood,  and  milk." — "Nor  let  it  appear  strange  to 
any  one,  when  Ave  say  that  milk  allegorically  describes  the  blood  of  the  Lord.  For 
does  not  wine  allegorize  it?"  See  his  Paedag.  Lib.  1.  cap.  6.  p.  104.  105.  Paris  Edit. 
1641.  He  has  many  similar  expressions  declaring  the  bread,  and  wine  to  be  the 
mystical  or  solemn  sacramental  sy77ibols.     See  p.  100,  and  156. 

13.  St.  Athanasius,  upon  that  passage  of  scripture,  "  Quicunque  dixerit,  &c. 
whosoever  shall  say,  ^c",  writes  fully  against  your  priests'  impostures.  Having  quoted 
the  words  uf  our  Savior  respecting  '' eating  his  flesh,"  he  proves  that  this  means  not 
carnally,  but  spiritually.  "  Our  Lord," — says  he, — "  spake  both  of  the  spirit  and  of 
the  flesh,  and  made  a  distinction ;  between  his  spirit,  and  his  flesh,  that  believing  in 
what  was  visible  to  their  eyes,  and  in  his  invisible  nature,  they  might  learn  that  the 
things  which  he  said  were  not  carnal,  aapKiKa  but  spiritual."  He  then  adds  a  potent 
refutation  of  the  fiction  of  the  priests.  "For,  for  how  many  would  his  body  have 
sufl[iced  for  meat,  that  it  should  become  the  nourishment  of  the  whole  world  ?" 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  239 

Again, — "  the  flesh  he  spoke  of  was  heavenly  nourishment,  and  spiritual  food  from 
above."  And  he  adds  that  Christ  "  draws  them  away  from  the  corporeal  sense,  and 
teaches  them  to  take  it  in  this  spiritual  way."     See  the  Paris  Edit,  of  1627. 

14.  Origen  is  as  fully  and  decisively  against  the  priests.  "Katoi^  &c.  It  is  not 
the  matter  of  the  bread,  but  the  words  spoken  over  it,  which  profit  him  that  eats  not 
unworthily.  And  these  things  I  speak  concerning  the  typical  and  symbolical  body." 
Comment  on  Matth.  Rouen  Edit.  1668.  Again; — •'  There  is  in  the  New  Testament, 
a  letter  which  killeth  him  who  does  not  understand  spiritually  the  things  tiiere  said. 
For  if  vou  take  this  according  to  the  letter, — Except  ye  eat  my  flesh,  and  drink  my  bloody 
— THIS  LETTER  KILLETH  !"  Homil.  7.  OQ  Lcvit.  10  ;  Basil  Edit.  1571.  Once  more  ; 
'•If,  as  these  affirm,  he  had  neither  flesh  nor  blood — of  what  flesh,  of  what  body,  and 
of  what  blood,  are  the  bread  and  cup,  (which  he  delivered,)  the  images  ?  By  these 
symbols,  He  commended  his  memory  to  his  disciples.'"  Dialog,  iii.  contr.  iMarc.  Basil 
Lat.  Edit.  1571. 

15.  St.  Chrysostom  in  one  place,  holds  the  doctrine  o:  Consubstantiation  with 
Luther: — "Christ  prepares  for  us  his  body,  not  only  in  faith,  but  in  very  deed.'"' 
"  We  have  become  one  body  and  one  flesh  with  Christ.  "  Chr^^s.  in  Matt.  Homil.  «■/? 
In  another  passage  he  opposes  this,  and  also  Transubstantiation.  For  instance : — 
"If  Jesus  did  not  die,  of  what  are  the  things  we  perform,  the  symbols?"  Same 
Homily.  Again: — "As  before  the  bread  is  consecrated,  we  call  it  bread  ;  but  when 
the  grace  of  God  has  consecrated  it,  by  the  priest,  it  is  freed  from  the  name  of  bread, 
and  is  reckoned  worthy  to  be  called  the  Lord's  body;  although  the  nature  of  bread 
remains  in  it,"  &c.     Chr^s.  to  the  monk  Caesarius. 

That  this  treatise  is  genuine,  we  have  the  testimony  of  Peter  the  Martyr,  and  the 
arguments,  at  length  for  it,  in  Dupin's  Nouv.  Bibl.  Tom.  iii.  Utrecht  Edit.  3731. 

16.  St.  Bernard  in  Serm.  5.  in  Psal.  says, — "  Quid  est  manducare,  &c.  WTiat 
is  it  to  eat  his  flesh,  and  to  drink  his  blood ;  but  to  communicate  \nth  his  passion,  and 
to  imitate  his  conversation  in  the  flesh."     Willet.  p.  510. 

17.  St.  Jerome  writes  : — "In  typo  sanguinis,  &:c.  As  a  type,  or  symbol  of  his 
blood,  Christ  offered  not  water,  but  wine."  Tom.  ii.  Lib.  2.  Advers.  Jovin.  p.  90. 
Aaain, — "  Because  the  flesh  of  our  Lord  is  true  meat,  and  his  blood  is  true  drink,  in 
an  exalted  and  spiritual  sense, — juxta  avayuyriv, — we  have  only  this  good  in  this  life, 
if  we  eat  his  flesh,  and  drink  his  blood,  not  only  in  the  mystery,  but  also  in  the  read- 
ing of  the  scriptures."  In  Eccles.  cap.  3.  Tom.  v.  p.  24.  Paris  Edit.  1602.— Once 
more,  "  I  believe  that  the  Gospel  is  the  body  of  Christ.  I  believe  the  holy  scriptures 
to  be  his  doctrine ;  and  when  he  says,  he  who  does  not  eat  my  flesh  and  drink 
my  blood,  (although  this  may  be  understood  of  the  mystery,)  yet  the  word  of  the 
scriptures,  and  the  divine  doctrine  is  more  truly  the  body  of  Christ,  and  his  blood 
If,  at  any  time,  we  go  to  the  mystery,  whoever  is  faithful,  understands  that  if  he  falls 
into  sin,  he  is  in  danger ;  so  if  at  any  time,  we  hear  the  word  of  God  ; — and  the  word 
of  Christ,  and  his  blood,  be  poured  into  our  ears,  and  we  are  thinking  of  something 
else,  how  great  is  the  danger  we  incur!"  Tom.  vii.  p.  420:  in  Psal.  147.  So  com- 
pletely does  this  father  show  his  ignorance  of  the  novel  fictions  of  your  priests,  that 
he  believes  in  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord,  as  purely  spiritual  in  the  gospel,  and 
in  the  eucharist ; — not  carnal,  in  the  hands,  and  mouths  of  priests  ! 

18.  Finally,  St.  Augustine  gives  this  admirable  exposition  of  "eating  Christ's 
flesh,"— in  opposition  to  you.  "  If  a  passage  is  preceptive,  and  either  forbids  a  crime, 
or  enjoins  usefulness,  or  charity,  it  is  not  figurative.     But,  if  it  seems  to  command  a 


240  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

crime,  or  forbids  charity,  &c.,  it  is  figurative.  Unless  ye  eat  thejiesh  of  the  son  of 
■man,  and  drink  his  blood.  Here  he  appears  to  enjoin  wickedness.  It  is,  therefore, 
lin-urative,  teaching  us  that  we  partake  of  the  benefits  of  the  Lord's  sufferings,"  &c. 
De  Doctr.  Chr.  Tom.  iii.  Lib.  3,  p.  52:  Bened.  Edit. 

Ao-ain, so  far  from  beheving  that  the  bread  and  wine  are  converted  into  the 

divinity,  he  says, — "  How  shall  I  put  forth  my  hand  to  heaven,  and  lay  hold  of  him 
who  sitteth  there  ?  Put  forth  your  faith,  and  you  will  have  laid  hold  of  him."  Tom. 
iii.  p.  630.  Ajiain, — "  This  is  the  word  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he 
hath  sent.  To  do  this  is  to  eat  the  meat  which  perisheth  not.  Why  do  you  prepare 
your  teeth  and  your  stomach  ?  Believe  only,  and  you  will  have  eaten."  Tom.  iii. 
p.  490;  Tract  25,  in  John  vi.  Lastly, — "  When  the  Lord  was  about  to  give  the 
Holy  Spirit,  he  said  that  he  was  the  bread  which  descends  from  heaven,  exhorting  us 
to  believe  in  him.  For  to  believe  in  him,  is  to  eat  the  living  bread.'*  p.  494. 
Again, — "It  seemed  to  them  a  hard  sa^dng,  when  he  said — except  a  man  eat  my 
flesh,  and  drink  my  blood  !  They  received  it  foolishly ;  they  thought  on  it  carnally  ; 
they  supposed  that  the  Lord  was  about  to  cut  off  httle  pieces  from  his  body,  and  give 
them  to  them."  *'Bui  he  taught  them  saying — it  is  the  Spirit  that  quickeneth  :  the 
flesh  profiteth  nothing  ;  my  words,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are  truth.  Understand 
spiritually  what  I  have  spoken.  You  are  not  about  to  eat  this  body  which  you 
see  :  nor  to  drink  that  blood  which  they  shall  shed,  who  shall  crucify  me.  I  have 
recommended  to  you  a  certain  sacrament^  which,  if  spiritually  understood,  shall 
quicken  you."     In  Psal.  9S.  Also  Tract  xi.  in  Ev.Johan.  i.  ii.  vi. 

Had  St.  Auo-usiine  lived  in  our  times,  and  among  the  most  enlightened  Protestants, 
no  language  could  he  have  employed  more  clear,  and  decisive,  in  condemning  the 
monstrous  fictions  of  popery,  and  in  confirming  our  Protestant  doctrine  of  the  holy 
Supper. 

The  Liturgies  of  Chrysostom,  and  Basil,  universally  used  in  the  Greek  church, 
condemn  this  novel  doctrine.  Thus  in  the  former  it  is  said,—''  In  rememhrance  of 
this  command  of  our  Savior,  we  ofiTer  to  thee  thine  own,  out  of  thine  own  gifts;  we 
offer  thee  this  reasonable  and  unbloody  worship.  &c."  Thus  they  call  the  bread  and 
wine  after  invocation,  gifts  ;  thus  precluding  all  idea  of  change  into  real  flesh. 

In  the  Liturgy  of  Basil  we  have  these  words, — "Laying  before  thee,  these  symbols 
of  the  body  and  blood  of  thy  Christ,  we  beseech  thee,  &c."  Goar.  Euch.  Grsec. 
Biblioth.  patrum.  Tom.  ii.  fol.  1624. 

The  Liturgies  of  St.  James,  and  Mark  use  the  same  word  "gifts,"  when  speaking 
of  the  bread  and  wine.  The  Ethiopic  Liturgy,  used  in  the  church  of  Abyssinia,  after 
the  prayer  of  consecration,  says, — "Now,  O  Lord,  we,  celebrating  the  memorial  o[  thy 
death,  do  offer  thee  thi^  bread,  and  this  cup,  &:c." 

Cyril,  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  in  the  16th  century,  thus  expressed  the 
views  of  the  Greek  church, — "In  the  eucharist,  we  do  confess  a  true  and  real  pre- 
sence of  Christ ;  but  such  a  one  as  faith  oflTers  us,  not  such  as  a  devised  transubstan- 
tiation."  Cyr.  Respons.  cap.  17.  p.  60.  Lond.  Prot.  Joum.  vol.  iv.  p.  144.  Finally, 
Metrophanes,  the  patriarch  of  Alexandria,  thus  expresses  the  sentiments  of  the  Ori- 
ental churches :  "  We  call  the  Lord's  supper  a  sacrifice,  but  a  sacrifice  that  is  spiritual 
and  commemorative  ;  spiritual,  as  having  nothing carnoHn  it;  commemorative,  as  be- 
ing performed  in  remembrance  of  the  sacrifice  once  offered  on  the  cross.  This  is 
taught  by  St.  Chrysostom,  and  the  whole  church,  saying.  This  is  done  in  remembrance 
of  what  wag  done  then."     "  We  never  believed  that  Christ  was  bodily  present  in  the 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY,  '241 

mysteries."     See  Metropb.  Conf,  Cirh.  et  Apo:>lol.  Eccles.  in  Orient.  Lond.  Prot. 
Journ.  iv.  145. 

To  the  ani])le  testimonies  of  the  christian  world  against  your  priests,  we  solicit 
your  candid  attention. 

How  long  will  you  suffer  yourselves  to  be  imposed  on  ?  Is  there  the  form  of  a 
rational  being,  but  yourselves,  who  can  believe  that  an  impious,  God-despising 
priest  can  create  his  Maker?  What  I  Create  the  Almighty  out  of  a  little  flour  and 
water  ?  The  most  degraded  of  the  heathen,  made  his  god  out  of  the  trunk  of  a  stately 
tree.  One  part  he  cut  up,  and  made  fire  of  it,  to  cook  his  food  :  of  the  other  jiart  he 
made  a  god  ;  and  he  bowed  down  to  it,  and  adored  it !  This  was  infinite!}-  degrading, 
and  contemptible !  But  your  priests  sink  you  all  beneath  the  infinite  degradation  of 
even  these  pagans  !  He  makes  his  god,  and  your  god  out  of  a  little  flour  and  water ! 
He  actually  makes  the  idol  of  his,  and  your  adoration  out  of  a  little  wafer!  And 
after  you  have  bowed  down  to  this  bran  idol,  and  on  your  knees  adored  it  with  pra\'- 
ers,  and  with  incense ;  and  after  you  have  carried  it  about  through  the  streets,  as  you 
do  in  Catholic  lands,  and  compelled,  by  violence  and  arms,  others  to  commit  the 
damning  sin  of  adoring  the  bra7i  god,  also  : — you  then  actualhj  eat  it  up  !  Did  3'ou 
ever  hear  of  the  most  brutish  pagan  eatmg  his  gods !  He  might  worship  animals  and 
vegetables!  But  brutish  as  he  was,  even  his  Itek  and  his  onion  thsi  he  worshipped, 
he  would  not  eat!  But  your  priests,  like  the  hero  of  Pope  in  the  Dunciad,  take  a 
long  race,  and  jump  the  deepest  into  the  abyss  of  abominable  idolatry ! 

And  what  of  the  god  is  not  eaten  up,  is  put  into  the  Pix,  (box).  And  if  some  of 
the  god  falls  in  xhe  form  of  crumbs,  the  dogs  pick  up  these  parts,  and  pieces  of  the 
god!  And  ihese  dogs  have  the  god'in  them.  Remember  the  instructive  story  of  the 
Lady's  lap  dog,  \vhich  suddenly  swallowed  the  wafer  as  the  priest  was  giving  it  to 
its  mistress!  The  little  fellow  was  actually  put  into  a  Nunnery,  and  kept  as  a  holy 
personage, — as  hol}'^  certainly  as  any  of  his  sacerdotal  compeers — no  one  doubts  it .' 
And  when  full  of  days,  tliis  little  dog  which  had  the  god  in  him,  died,  he  was  buried 
in  holy  ground!  Moreover,  the  vermin,  such  as  wonus,  and  mice,  and  rats,  have 
entered  the  Fix ;  and  eaten  the  bran  god  !  Vv'hat  a  sublime  god !  What  a  ghostly 
elevation  of  sentiment !  Your  god  eaten  u\)  by  men,  and  dogs,  and  worms,  and  mice 
What!  Can  he  not  take  care  of  himself,  then  !  How  can  he  take  care  of  you?  If 
he  cannot  save  himself  from  the  devouring  throats  of  beasts  and  reptiles,  how  can 
he  ever  save  you  from  death ! 

Had  this  unparalleled  doctrine  of  Rome  been  obtruded  on  the  faith  of  the  most  de- 
graded of  the  pagans,  how  would  they  have  blushed  for  human  nature,  disgraced  and 
insulted  by  beings, — men  shall  I  call  them  ?  who  invented  and  imposed  on  you, 
fellow  citizens,  for  the  sake  of  gain,  this  monstrous  fiction  of  trans ubstantiati on  ! 

I  ain,  fellow  citizens,  yours  re3i)eclfullv, 

W.  C^  B. 

P.  S.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  announcing  the  conversion  of  another  R.  C.  priest. 
Lately,  the  Rev.  John  Burk  leftthe  Romish  church,  and  joined  the  Episcopal  church 
in  Virginia.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Peixota,  lately  left  the  church  of  Rome,  and  joined  the 
Lutheran  church  in  Pennsylvania.  And,  now,  the  Rev.  S.  B.  Smith,  many  years  a 
priest,  has  united  himself  with  the  Presbyterian  church,  in  Philadelphia. 

W.  C.  B. 


242 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 


LETTER  XVII. 


TO  THE  3IEMBERS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

Popery  condemned   by  Reason,  Scripture,  and  the  Fathers. 

The  very  origin  of  the  word  Mass  establishes  the  identity  of  popery  and  infidelity:  It*  ? 
MissA  est:  Go;  our  unbloody  sacrifice  now  offered,  is  sext  to  heaven  and  accepted  ! 

Fellow  Citizens  : — Having  paid  our  respects  to  transubstantiation,  I  go  on  to  it« 
cognate  doctrine,  and  observe  in  ihe  next  place, — 

Tenth  :  that  the  Mass  is  condemned  by  reason,  scripture,  and  the  Fathers.  A» 
many  of  my  readers  have  never  seen  "  the  ludicrous  flay  of  a  grand  mass,  in  pontijif 
calibus,''  I  intend  soon  to  devote  a  letter  to  a  graphic  painting  of  it.  My  present  aim 
is  to  utter  its  condemnation  from  these  three  testimonies,  from  which  hes  no  appeal. 

First,  Reason  condemns  it.  The  Mass,  in  Roman  style,  is  the  offering  up,  in  sacri- 
fice, the  wafer,  converted  b}'^  transubstantiation,  into  the  real  flesh,  and  soul,  blood, 
and  divinity,  of  Christ.  This,  the  priests  with  an  ill  affected  gravity,  contrive  to  make 
you  believe,  is  a  real  sacrifice  for  the  quick  and  the  dead!  This  same  "body  and 
divinity"  are  offered  up;  yes!  "  the  divinity"  is  offered  up  in  sacrifice  !  The  divine 
nature  of  our  Lord  was  the  altar  which  made  his  true  and  only  sacrifice  of  the  human 
nature  to  be  of  infinite  value.  But  the  Roman  priests  take  "  the  divinity  and  soul  as 
'well  as  body  of  Christ,"  in  his  hands,  and  offers  all  of  them  in  a  sacrifice ! 
This,  reason  revolts  at : — this,  reason  pronounces  a  horrible  blasphemy  !  Moreover, 
all  men,  possessed  of  the  least  grains  of  common  sense,  are  fully  convinced  that  a  ma- 
terial body  cannot  be  in  millions  of  places,  at  once.  "  Tolle  spatia,  &c.,  take  away 
from  bodies,"  says  Augustine  in  Epist.  57, — "their  existing  in  one  place,  at  one  time, 
and  they  no  where  exist."  But  the  Mass  assumes  this  principle  without  proof,  tliat 
the  one  human  body  of  Christ  is  in  heaven,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  earth,  at  once  ; — 
that  it  is  in  glory,  and  yet  it  is  daily  and  totally  eaten  up,  and  devoured  by  a  million 
of  Romish  mouths,  every  day  !  And  the  next  moment  it  is  as  ready  to  be  eaten  up 
again,  as  ever !  It  is  at  once  visible,  and  invisible  !  Divisible,  and  indivisible  !  It 
is  all  here  in  the  priest's  box,  and  it  is  not  here,  but  elsewhere !  It  is  one  whole,  and 
yet  in  a  million  of  bits,  in  a  million  of  different  mouths  !  It  is  contained  in  heaven, 
and  yet  not  there  contained  !  It  existed  formerly,  and  yet  it  is  daily  made,  by  the 
priests  muttering  of  the  words, — "  hoc  est  corpus.'*  It  is  one,  and  a  whole  human 
body,  in  small  bits  in  a  million  of  different  stomachs,  and  3'^et  it  is  altogether  external 
of  all  these  same  stomachs  !  It  is  to  be  made  daily,  and  yet  never  to  be  made  !  In 
a  word,  our  Lord,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Mass,  while  sitting  at  the  first 
table,  was  at  the  same  moment,  in  the  mouth,  and  the  stomach  of  each  of  the  apostles. 
While  sitting,  he  took  his  own  perfect  body,  head,  and  all,  into  his  own  hands  :  and 
while  sitting,  he  broke  himself  into  pieces,  and  with  his  hand,  still  sitting,  after  bs 
was  broken,  he  gave  himself  to  each  of  his  people;  and  was  eaten  by  them  all,  whil* 
he  was  yet  sitting,  and  talking  to  them.  And  after  being  eaten  up  by  eleven  men, 
he  walked  out,  and  made  the  intercessory  prayer,  while  he  was  the  same  mo- 
ttiwat, — in  the  stomachs  of  eleven  different  men  !  And  finall}^  after  being  eaten  and 
digested  by  these  eleven  different  men,  he  was  crucified,  he  rose,  and  ascended  to 
hea?€ri! 


ROATAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSr.  243 

All  these  unparalleled  absurdities  the  Roman  priest  teaches  his  victims  :  and  actu- 
ally coiPmands  them  to  believe  them, — "on  pain  of  damnation!" 

Second:  The  holy  scriptures  condemn  the  Mass.  It  is  a  fundamental  doctrine  of 
liome,  that  the  mass  is  a  real,  propitiatory  sacrifice,  offered  up  to  appease  the  wrath  of 
God,  for  the  dead,  and  the  living.  The  priests  hrst  create  our  blessed  Lord  out  of  a 
little  wafer:  and  then  otTer  up  this  new  made  bran  god  as  a  real  sacrifice,  to  appease 
the  wrath  of  God!  And  they  worship  with  solemn  adoration  and  incense,  this  god 
in  the  wafer. 

The  scriptures  pass  a  sentence  of  double  condemnation  on  the  mass.  First :  as  a 
horrible  >  lolalry,  at  which  every  pious  man  shudders.  The  priests  and  their  victims 
worship  a  newly  made  wafer  god  !  Now,  the  Bible  says,  "Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord 
thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve."  The  worship  of  the  host,  and  the  mass, 
is  not  a  whit  more  justifiable  than  the  idolatry  of  the  Jews,  or  the  Pagans.  The 
mass,  is  as  degrading,  as  impious,  as  God-despising,  as  God-provoking,  as  the  mon- 
strous idolatry  of  the  Jews  in  worshipping  f^e  golden  calf!  And  in  point  of  atrocity, 
it  comes  the  nearest  of  any  sinful  devices,  to  that  of  human  sacrifices  !  For  if  we 
ma}^  believe  the  priests,  they  use  real  human  flesh,  and  real  human  blood  in  the 
mass ! 

I  beg  you  and  your  priests  to  hear  how  this  abomination  of  the  mass  is  condemned 
by^  first,  the  Old  Testament.     You  know  that  our  blessed  Lord,  after  the  flesh,  was  a 
Jew,  and  so  were  his  disciples.     And  he  came  to  fulfil  the  law,  and  not  to  break  it. 
This  you  admit.     Now.  then,  you  teach  that  our  Lord  converted  the  bread  into  his 
mm  flesh,  really,  and  without  deception ;  and  the  wine  of  the  cup  into  his  oivn  real 
blood, — that  is  into  human  flesh,  and  human  blood,  without  any  imposition.     And  hav- 
ing done  this,  he  made  his  disciples,  who  were  all  Jews, — eat  this  human  flesh,  and 
drink  this  human  blood!     Here  your  priests  represent  our  Lord,  as  an   impostor,  de- 
liberately breaking  the  law  of  Moses,   which  prohibited   the  use   of    the  blood   of 
beasts,— infinitely  more  that  of  a  human  being.     May  I  direct  your  attention  to  Le\dt. 
xvii.  iO,  "Whatsoever  man  there  be  among  you,  that  eateth  any  manner  of  blood;  I 
will  even  eet  my  face  against  that  soul  that  eateth  blood,  and  will  cut  him  oft^  from 
among  the  people."     And,  moreover,  your  priests  represent  our  Lord  as  having  broken 
a  noted  law  of  Moses  recorded  in  Numbers  xix.  11,  whi<:h  prohibited  a  Jew  from  even 
touching  a  dead  body  of  a  man;  if  he  did,  "he  was  unclean  seven  days."     But, 
■with  these  laws  of  Moses  before  their  eyes,  your  priests  do  in  the  mass, — Oh  I  most 
horrible,  represent  our  Lord  and  his  disciples  not  merely  "  touching  a  dead  body,"  but 
absolutely  eating  living  human  flesh  !     Yes !  to  crown  the  climax  of  Satanic  impiety  in 
the  mass,  your  priests  make  the  Lord,  and  his  disciples,  and  all  the  "  simple  faithful," 
to  be  absolutely  guilty  of  cannibalism  !     In  the  name  of  ail  that  is  sacred,— how  long 
will  you,  fellow  citizens,  permit  these  impostors  to  make  cannibals,  and  idolaters 
of  you ! 

Second  :  Let  your  priests  hear  how  the  mass  is  condemned  by  the  New  Testament. 
In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  apostle  contrasts  the  daily,  and  ever  repeated  sa- 
crifices of  the  Jewish  ciuirch,  with  the  one  sacrifice  of  our  blessed  Lord,  once  ofiered 
for  us;  and  thence  shows  the  imperfection  of  the  former;  and  the  infinite  perfection 
of  the  latter.  The  v.ho'e  weight  of  the  argument  of  ins])iration,  rests  on  the  divine 
fact  of  the  perfection  of  the  one,  and  never  to  be  renewed  sacrifice  of  Christ.  Take  this 
away,  as  your  Roman  priests  do,  and  you  destroy  the  whole  force,  and  beauty  of  the 
opQStle's  divine  argument.     "This  man,"  says  the  apostle,  "after he h^d  oflT^red  o?t£ 


244  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  i  ONTROVERST. 

sacrifice  for  sin,  forever  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God."  "By  one  sacrifice  he 
hath  perfected,  forever,  them  that  are  sanctified."  Heb.  x.  12.  14.  And  Si.  Peter 
says,  "  Christ  hath  sutfered  once  for  sin."     1  Ep.  iii.  18. 

But  in  a  heaven  daring  manner,  in  the  very  face  of  all  these  divine  testimonies 
borne  to  the  truth  of  the  o?ze,  perfect,  and  never  to  he  repeated  sacrifice  of  Christ,  your 
priests  pretend  to  offer  up  Christ,  daily,  in  his  "real  body,  soul,  and  divinity,"  a 
sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  quick  and  the  dead.  Now,  we  ask  them,  was  our  Lord's 
sacrifice  perfected,  at  his  death  ;  or  was  it  left  iviperfectl  If  imperfect,  it  was  worse 
than  none ;  it  was  a  mockery  of  an  unclean,  and  spotted  thing,  offered  to  God  !  You 
will  not, — you  dare  not  openly  avow  this  blasphemy,  which  would  make  even  Satan 
blush!  If  it  was  perfect, — then  it  is  utterly  impossible,  nay,  even  blasphemous  to 
suppose  that  you  can  renew  it,  and  repeat  it,  and  make  it  acceptable  to  God  for  the 
quick  and  the  dead  ! 

Again;  supposing  for  a  moment,  that  your  priest's  mass  is  "a  propitiatory  sacri- 
fice," it  must  be,  either  the  same  as  our  Lord's  atonement :  or,  it  must  be  a  continua* 
tion  of  what  he  began  on  the  cross;  or,  it  must  be  a  renewal,  and  reueration  of  it. 
It  cannot  possibly  be  the  same  as  Christ's;  any  more  than  xhe  first  Lord's  Supper,  is 
that  of  our  day.  If  it  be  the  continuation  of  what  Christ  began ; — then  our  Lord  must 
have  left  his  work  incomplete,  imperfect,  and,  therefore,  utterly  useless !  If  it  be  a 
reiteration,  and  renewal  of  what  our  Lord  did  on  the  cross, — then  your  priests  are 
placing  the  perfectly  finished  imrk  of  Christ,  on  the  same  footing  as  the  imperfect,  and 
ever  renewed  sacrifices  of  beasts,  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  Mosaic  law  :  and,  thence, 
it  can  be  no  more  availing  in  its  efficacy  than  the  blood  of  bulk !  This  they  will  not 
dare  openly  to  avow.  The  Bible  declares,  Rom.  vi.  9.  10..  that  "  Christ  being 
raised  from  the  dead,  dieth  no  more.'"  "  He  died  unto  sin  once.''  '-'By  one  offering 
he  hath  perfected,  for  ever,  them  that  are  sanctified.'"  ''After  Christ  had  offered  one 
sacrifice  for  sin,  he  forever  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God.''     Heb.  x.  12.  14. 

This,  your  priests  seek  to  evade  by  an  extraordinary  distinction.  It  is  this  : — 
There  is  one  bloody  sacrifice,  not  to  be  repeated:  but  we  offer  up  "the  unbloody 
sacrifice  of  the  mass."  Here,  in  your  painful  and  disgraceful  ignorance  of  God's 
holy  Word,  you  contradict  divine  revelation;  and  deny  what  God  has  declared. 
Thpre  can  be  no  propitiatory  sacrifice  without  blood  : — there  may  be  sacrifices  of 
prayer  and  praise  ;  but  there  can  be  no  propitiation  without  blood.  "  TIa^  unbloody 
sacrifice  of  the  mass"  is  an  impious  and  diabolical  invention.  God  has  declared  it, 
and  all  the  puny  rebels  of  Rome  cannot  gainsay  it.  Hear  his  own  awful  and  eternal 
■vtords: — "■  It  is  the  blood  that  maJceth  an  atonement  for  the  soid."  Lev.  xvii.  11. 
''Without  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission."  Heb.  ix.  22.  "  An  unbloody 
sacrifice,"  such  as  that  of  the  mass,  we,  therefore,  pronounce,  to  be  the  wickedest  of 
all  the  inventions  to  which  the  devil,  and  the  pope  of  Rome  have  ever  yet  given  cur- 
rency ! 

I^hird: — The  Mass  is  condemned  by  the  christian  Fathers.  These  writers  knew 
neither  the  name,  nor  the  thing, — ofmass.  They  called  the  holy  Supper  of  our  Lord, 
"the  gift,"  "  theeucharist ;"  and  more  generally,  as  St.  Jerome  does,  "the  mystery." 
And,  with  them,  this  was  synonymous  with  a  symbol,  by  which  solemn  and  invisible 
things  were  represented  by  outward,  and  visible  elements.  See  St.  Jerome  ;  Evagr. ; 
Tom.  iv.  Again:  St.  Jerome  calls  it  "the  table  of  the  Lord,"  and  speaks  of  "the 
bread,"  and  the  "cup  of  the  table  of  the  Lord."  Here  he  confirms  tv/o  points:  1st. 
That  the  cup  was  given  to  all;  as  well  as  the  holy  bread.   2d.  That  the  holy  Supper 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  245 

oTour  Lord,  was,  in  the  belief  of  these  Fathers,  a  feast  upon  a  sacrifice  ;  and  not  "a 
sacrijice  ;  not  an  altar.'''     See  St.  Jerome,  Lib.  7,  De  Ordin. 

lu  like  manner,  Damasus,  Epist.  4,  calls  it,  "  the  table  of  the  Lord ;"  not  "  an 
altar,"  not  "a  sacrifice."  This  was  Paul's  designation  of  it;  and  our  Lord  was  not 
sacrificed  at,  or  on  "a  table ;"  but  on  the  cross. 

St.  Augustine  calls  it  "the  Eucharist^" — the  thank  oftering.  C.  88.  And  Willet's 
Synops.  p.  579.  And  that  eminent  Father,  in  Libr.  Ad  Fratres  in  Erem.  when  speak- 
ing of  the  prodigal  son's  return,  and  the  fatted  calf  being  killed,  says, — "He  slew 
tlie  fatted  calf,  when  He  renewed  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  the  memory  of  his 
passion,  in  his  mind, — memoriam  passio7iis,  &c."  Thus  Augustine  makes  the 
Eucharist  a  sacrament, — not  a  sacrijice  of  the  altar ;  a  commemoration  of  his  passion 
and  death.  I  shall  offer  one  memorable  sentence  more,  from  this  father,  against  your 
priests.  "Hujus  sacrificii  caro  et  sanguis,  ante  adventum,  ^c.  The  flesh  and  blood 
of  this  sacrifice  of  our  Lord,  before  his  coming,  was  exhibited  in  the  type  of  the  sacri- 
ficial victims:  during  his  actual  suffering,  it  was  presented  indeed,  and  in  truth;  but 
after  his  ascension,  it  is  celebrated  through  the  sacrament  of  his  commemoration.'"  Aug. 
cap  20.  Lib.  Contra.  F.  Manichaeum,  Turet.  vol.  iii.  p.  601.  So  decisive  is  this  emi' 
nent  Father  against  the  modern  fiction  of  the  mass. 

St.  Bernard  thus  writes, — "Sicut  Christus,  &c.  As  Christ  is  daily  offered  up, 
while  we  do  show  forth  his  death ;  so  he  seemeth  to  be  born,  when  we-  faithfully 
represent  his  nativity."  Bern,  in  Vigil.  Natal.  Sem.  6.  Can  any  thing  be  more 
decisive  against  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  ?  If  Christ  be  often  sacrificed,  as  the  priests 
say, — "then,"  says  St.  Bernard,  "is  he  often  born  T^  In  the  Lord's  Supper,  there^ 
fore,  St.  Bernard  advocates  a  holy  sacra:ncntal  remembrance  of  him  ;  and  by  no  mean» 
a  sacrifice  of  him. 

The  Decretals  are  positively  against  your  mass-  Thus,  in  Decret.  p.  2.  Caus. 
1.  Qu.  1.  cap.  72,  Gregory  calls  it  "Me  communion  ;"  he  never  dreamed  of  it  being 
called  a  sacrifice.  Again,  in  cap.  63,  it  is  called, — "  Sacramenfum  pietatiSy''  the  sacra- 
ment of  piety, — not  a  sacrifice.  In  cap.  12.  Gelasius,  it  is  called  "the  mystery." 
In  cap.  5,  it  is  named,  "  the  sacrament  of  the  body  and  the  blood  of  the  Lord." 
These  were  the  names,  and  the  sacred  meanings  and  use  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
before  the  revolting  modern  fiction  of  the  mass.  I  beg  leave  to  give  another  extract 
from  the  Decretals, — "  Quod  factum,  &c."  That  which  was  once  done  is  done  in  our 
memory,  every  year.''"'  Deer.  Par.  3,  Dist.  2,  cap.  51.  And  in  cap..  53,  we  find  thew 
words  : — "  Quod  nos,  &c.,  that  which  we  do,  is  done  in  the  remembrance  of  him.'" 

Pope  Gregory  says: — "  Sine  intermitisione,  &:c.  Without  ceasing,  our  Redeemer 
immolates  a  sacrifice  for  us,  in  demonstrating,  or  shoicing  forth  to  his  father,  his  incar- 
nation, &c.  See  Greg.  Moral.  Lib.  i.  cap.  10.  This  pope  had  not  conceived,  as  yet, 
any  thiug  even  like  the  figment  of  the  modern  mass! 

St.  Chrysostom  thus  opposes  the  ma&s: — "Tovro  yap  &c."  "For,  do  this,  h« 
gays,  in  remembrance  of  me.  We  do  not  perform  a  different  sacrifice,  as  the  high 
priest  did  then ;  but  always  the  same  :  or,  rather  wo  make  a  memorial  of  the  sacri- 
fice.'"    In  Epist.  ad  llebr.  cap.  10. 

Justin  Martyr,  in  A.  D.  150,  thu3  wrote: — "  Ort  fiw,  &c.  I  also  affirm  that  the 
prayers,  and  praises  of  the  saiats  aro  the  only  perfect  sacrifices  acceptable  to  God. 
For  these  only  have  the  Christians  undertaken  to  perform ;  and  by  the  communication, 
ofthz  wet  food,  and  the  dry,  in  which  ice  call  to  remembrance  the  sufferings,  in  which 
the  God  of  godi  suffered  &c."     Dial.  Cum  Tryph.  Judaco,  p.  345.  Paris  Edit.  15I5-. 

23^ 


24G  ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CO^TROTIlRST. 

Clemens  Alexandrinus  in  like  manner,  thus  wrote  : — "  Ert  yow,  &c.  Oor  earthly 
altar  is  the  assembly  of  such  as  join  together  in  prayers  ;  having,  as  it  were,  a  com- 
mon voice  and  mind.  For  the  sacrifice  of  the  church  is  the  word  ascending  as 
incense  from  holy  souls;  their  sacrifices,  and  their  whole  minds  being  open  to  God." 
Stromatura.  lib.  7,  p.  717,  Paris  Edit.  1641.  These  were  the  only  sacrijices  then 
known,  in  the  primitive,  pure,  and  apostolical  church. 

Tertullian,  in  one  of  his  books,  shows  us  how  utterly  ignorant  he  was  of  the 
mass,  both  as  to  name  and  thing.  "IVamcjue  quod  non  terrenis  sacrificiis,  &c.  For 
we  must  not  think  of  appeasing  God  with  earthly  sacrifices,  but  we  must  offer  to  him 
spiritual  sacrifices.'^  "  Thus,  therefore,  spiritual  sacrijices  are  meant;  and  a  contrite 
heart  is  shown  to  be  an  acceptable  sacrifice  to  God."  See  his  book  Advers.  Judaeos. 
cap.  5.  p.  188:  Paris  Edit.  167.5. 

Lactamtius,  in  like  manner,  had  no  conception  of  the  modern  Mass  ;  or  of  any 
ghostly  sacrifice  of  wafer,  and  wine,  and  water!  See  his  Book  De  Vero  Cultu.  Lib. 
6.  Tom.  i.  p.  509:  Paris  Edit.  1748, — "Duo  sant  &c.  There  are  two  things  which 
iihould  be  offered  to  God;  a  gift,  and  a  sacrifice;  a  gift  should  be  for  ever,  a  sacrifice 
for  a  time, — in  tempus.'''  And  having  shown  that  no  gifts  nor  sacrifices  can  now  be 
given  to  God  to  propitiate  him,  since  Christ  has  died,  he  adds  in  explaining  the  nature 
oiuur  gifts  and  sacrifices  as  christians, — "  Therefore  to  God  is  to  be  offered, — incor- 
forale,  the  incorporeal  offering,  which  he  makes  use  of.  The  gift  is  integrity  of 
mind  :  the  sacrifice  is  praise  and  a  hymn." 

I  have  thus  far  been  insensibly  led  on,  in  the  examination  of  the  mass  ;  and  in  con- 
trasting primitive  purity  of  doctrine,  with  this  revolting  figment  of  Ronnsh  priestcraft. 
I  shall  close  this  Letter  with  a  few  miscellaneous  remarks  on  the  mass. 

Although  the  Mass  is  sustained  by  neither  reason,  nor  scripture,  nor  the  early 
Fathers, — it  is  yet  mightily  sustained.  It  is  sustained  by  the  whole  posse  of  priests 
from  the  pope,  down  to  Vicar  Power,  and  Padre  Levins.  And  in  spite  of  rhyme  and 
reason,  they  will  cling  to  it,  until  the  whole  system  tumble  in  ruins.  It  is  the  grand 
specific  to  convert  every  thing  into  money.  "Whither  tendeth  the  doctrine  concerning 
the  mass  being  a  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  dead," — says  Dr.  Barrow,  vf)l.  vi.  p. 
233,, — "  but  to  engage  men  to  leave,  in  their  wills,  good  sums  to  offer  on  their  behalf !" 
"  By  this,  the  priest  makes  an  irresistible  appeal  to  the  dying  wretch,  of  every  class, 
everwhelmed  with  all  the  vices  and  attrocious  pollutions,  in  which  popery  steeps  its 
abused  victims;  and  in  which  it  entertains  them  in  the  deepest  sleep  of  moral  death, 
mitil  its  convenient  hour  comes, — that  is  to  say.  the  fittest  moment  for  making  the 
most  lucrative  speculation  on  (he  soul  of  the  dying  wretch!  For  it  is  then,  under 
the  exquisite  tortures  of  conscience,  and  the  merciless  goadings  of  priestcraft,  that  he 
will  eagerly  purchase  deliverance  from  the  pope's  hobgoblin  flames, — on  any  terms, 
and  for  any  sum  of  money,  and  for  any  lands, — especially  when  he  knows,  he  can 
carry  none  of  them  with  him! 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  and  it  ought  to  be  more  generally  known,  that  the  old  Mortmain 
law  of  England,  and  which  stands  unrepealed  in  the  statute  book  of  our  state  to  this 
uav,  was  imperatively  called  forth  by  sacerdotcil  rapacity,  and  the  incredible  success 
of  the  priests  in  selling  their  purgatorial  flames!  By  ^his  lucrative  speculation,  they 
were  laying  field  to  field,  and  domain  to  domain  !  Had  it  not  been  for  the  interven- 
tion of  this  law,  prohibiting  such  bodies  from  receiving  such  bequests,  the  priests 
wx.uld,   probably,  soon  have  possessed  the  landed  property  of  all  England !     They 


EOMAX    CATHOLIC    CONTROVEttST.  247 

would  soon  have  made  the  rich  exchange  of  the  dark  flaming  waves  of  purgatory,  for 
the  beautiful  domains  of  England  ! 

The  priests  have  invented  masses  admirably  adapted  to  suit  every  body,  and  all 
times.  There  are  the  occasional  masses,  and  the  ordinary  masses;  there  are  high 
masses,  sung  by  the  choristers,  with  the  aid  of  the  deacon,  &c. ;  and  there  are  the  low 
masses,  in  which  the  prayers  are  merely  rehearsed.  The  masses  for  the  dead,  de- 
signed to  relieve,  and  finally,  to  bring  out  souls  from  purgatory,  are  the  most  conveni- 
ent, and  protitable,  because  they  are  the  best  paid !  For  who  would  not  give  all  he 
has,  and  even  leave  his  wife  and  children  to  beg, — if  he  can  only  bribe — what  is  no 
easy  matter, — a  luxurious,  indolent,  and  avaricious  priest,  to  set  his  poor  soul  out  of 
purgatorial  flames  I  The  splendor,  value,  and  efficacy  of  masses,  are  purely  in  pro- 
portion to  the  amount  of  the  cash  paid.  The  most  magnificent  and  earnest  mass,  being 
the  best  paid,  is  when  the  Chapelle  ardente  is  erected.  Thatis,  when  a  representation 
wl"  the  deceased,  the  new  inhabitant  of  purgatory,  is  set  up,  amid  the  blaze  of  wax 
candles.  Then,  when  the  gold  and  silver  are  heard  to  tinkle  in  thecoflur;  a  solemn 
absolution  is  pronounced,  forthwith,  on  the  poor  wretch  in  the  flames.  And,  forth- 
with, at  the  simple  nod  of  the  priest,  as  he  pockets  the  money,  all  the  demons,  and  the 
devil  himself, — so  the  priest  says — quit  their  hold ;  and  the  pure  soul  of  the  lately 
oppressed  wretch,  is  in  a  moment  winging  its  flight  to  heaven,  to  the  bosom  of  Abra- 
ham!    How  amazing  is  the  power  of  gold  in  Rome  ! 

But,  so  far  as  we  can  penetrate  the  priestly  secrets,  our  "dealers  in  human  souls," 
and  the  traders  in  Purgatory  flames,  have  the  candor  to  admit,  that  this  class  of  Ro- 
mxin  redeemed  souls,  are  not  admitted  exactly  into  the  same  place  where  those,  who 
are  saved  b}^  grace  alone,  sing  the  praise  of  redeeming  love.  For  those  persons  cannot 
possibly  join,  with  any  kind  of  good  grace,  in  the  same  heavenly  song.  They  can 
»ing  only,  in  truth,  of  what  saved  them.  They  cannot  sing  of  that  in  which  they  had 
no  interest,  and  from  which  they  had  no  benefit.  They  can,  with  no  kind  of  truth,  or 
honesty,  sing  of  any  thing  else  than  the  singular  praises  of  priests,  silver,  and  purga- 
tory! And  in  no  other  possible  form  can  the  chorus  be  framed,  than  in  this, — "  f  Wor- 
thy are  the  priests,  and  the  silver,  and  purgatory,  to  receive  our  most  cordial  praises,  a7id 
hearty  commemorations  forever ! 

1  have  only  to  add,  that,  to  accommodate  all  persons  who  have  the  means,  and  a 
taste  for  this  ghostly  merchandize,  with  the  priests,  there  are  masses  to  be  sold  and 
»aid  for  cattle,  for  strayed  beasts,  for  stolen  goods,  and  for  travelers,  going  a  journey, 
that  they  may  have  '^priestly  good  luck.''  These  are  styled  votive  ?nasses.  Verily, 
as  the  pi  jet  sang, — 

*•  Bill  laymen  mo?!  renowned  for  devilish  deeds, 
Lriborcd  at  diataucc  still  beliind  tlio  priest!" 

PuUok. 

I  am  fellow  citizens,  yours,  &c. 

W.  C.  B. 


RDMAli   CATHOLIC    CONTEOVEBSY. 

LETTER  XVIII. 

TO  THE  MKMBERS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

Popery  condemned  hy  Reason,  Scripture,  and  the  Fathers. 

*'  One  is  led  to  ima'^ine  that  the  Pope  is  no  other  than  the  incarnation  of  the  ancient  idol 
Xmninon,  and  that  the^'priests  are  his  tax  gatherers."— McGai^iw. 

Fellow  Citizens: — I  have  at  length,  arrived  with  you,  at  Purgatory;  and  if 
you  have  no  fears  of  entering  into  the  priestly  fabric,  I  propose  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion of  it.  It  is  the  temple  of  Mammon  incarnate  ;  wherein  his  Holiness,  the  genius 
of  the  place,  and  the  worshipped  idol,  has  erected,  before  all  the  world,  his  "trajffic  in 
human  souls;" — and  where  he  deals  in  purgatorial  flames,  and  "souls  of  men;"  sur- 
Toainded  by  his  money  changers,  and  his  "  tax  gatherers,  the  priests." 

That  some,  although  few  of  even  your  priests,  have  believed  in  purgatory,  I  am 
rather  disposed  to  admit.  For  I  find  a  few  instances  of  even  your  priests,  in  Ireland, 
actually  bequeathing  all  the  little  money  they  had, — (one  really  left  £500  sterl.)— 
foi  masses  for  their  souls — it  seems  to  be  the  only  evidence,  that  such  men  can  give, 
of  the  sincerity  of  their  faith  in  it.  But  as  it  respects  the  great  mass,  nearly  all  tha 
body  of  the  priesthood,  from  the  pope,  down  to  the  humblest  priest,  there  are  few  in 
America,  and  almost  none  in  Europe,  who  ever  supposed,  for  a  moment,  that  yo"ur 
priests  believe  in  their  own  purgatory.  For  my  part,  I  cannot  think  so  meanly  of 
their  intellects,  as  even  to  insinuate  that  they  do  believe  in  any  such  thing.  It  is  a 
difficult  matter  enough,  to  many  of  them,  to  believe  in  even  a  heaven,  or  a  hell, — 
not  to  mention  a  purgatory!  Your  priests  can  tell  you  the  names  of  many  a  pope, 
■w:ho  made  heaven  and  hell,  and  ajudgment  seat,  the  subject  of  their  merriment ;  and 
of  another,  namely,  pope  Leo  X.,  who  used  to  call  Christianity  "a  pretty  and  profit- 
atble  fable,  withal !"  And  an  author  of  no  mean  note,  quotes  from  some  of  your  old 
■writers,  the  following  instructive  anecdote  of  an  eminent  cardinal  of  Rome.  One 
dgj  his  eminence,  disposed  to  be  talkative,  began  to  "  pose"  his  chaplain,  and  try  the 
extent  of  his  profound  theology.  "How  many  masses,  I  pray  you,"  said  he  gravely — 
"will  it  take  to  pray  a  soul  out  of  purgatory?"  The  chaplain  was  struck  dumb  at 
the  weighty  question.  After  a  painful  silence,  during  which  he  had  rummaged  evety 
corner  of  his  brain,  and  exhausted  his  knowledge  of  the  Fathers,  he  frankly  told  tb« 
trnj}!^ — a  thing  not  usual  in  Rome, — that  he  could  not  tell  his  eminence:  that  it  was 
prodigiously  beyond  his  depth." 

"Well,  1  will  tell  thee!"  said  his  eminence,  with  a  condescending  air, — while  the 
godly  chaplain  was  all  eye,  and  ear,  to  receive  the  awfully  important  discovery ;  "  It 
will  take  as  many  masses  to  relieve  a  soul  out  of  purgatory,  as  it  will  take  snow  balls  to 
heat  our  oven  I''''  See  the  Preservative  against  popery  p.  113.  114.  Glasgow  Prot. 
chap.  76. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  purgatory,  like  the  other  prominent  and  peculiar  oere- 
raooies  of  your  priest's  church,  we  find  it  imported  from  the  pagans.  We  disco- 
ver it  many  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  Nay,  on  the  pages  of  Homer, 
Plato,  and  Virgil,  we  discover  the  heathen  fiction.  I  refer  to  the  Odyssy,  Lib.  12, 
and  Virgil,  ^neid  Lib.  G;  where,  in  the  former,  the  ghosts  of  Elpenor  utter  their  sor- 
rows ;  and  in  the  latter,  Palinurus  utters  his ;  and  where  the  ceremonies,  used  to  relieve 


ROMAN    CATBOLIC    CO.^TRO VERST.  249 

them,  as  described  by  these  great  poets,  are  remarkably  similar  to  those  of  the  Roman 
catholics,  used  to  relieve  the  Roman  ghosts  in  the  improved  model  of  purgatory. 

This  pagan  ticlioa  of  purgatory,  was  unknown  to  the  true  christian  church  in  the 
frstjivt  centuries.  The  man  is  no  scholar,  nor  at  all  read  in  genuine  history,  who 
will  risk  his  reputation  in  affirming  the  contrary.  I  admit  that  a  few  individuals, 
philosiphr^rs,  and  monks  held  this  from  early  ages;  and  that  these  men  were  nomirml 
christians.  For,  it  is  a  painful  fact  that  when  Christianity  mounted  the  throne  of  the 
Cffisars,  in  the  person  of  Constantine  the  Great,  paganism  became  unfashionable,  and 
unprofitable ;  and  Christianity  became  of  course,  profitable  to  men  of  rank,  and  to 
philosophers.  And  these  "  great"  men  when  they  came  into  the  churcli,  did  not  **  put 
od'  the  old  man" — they  did  not  strip  off  paganism,  and  its  pagan  tenets.  They  put 
on  the  mask  of  the  hypocrite,  over  the  pagan  man !  A  thing,  by  the  way,  done  by 
millions  in  Europe,  and  perpetuated  to  this  day.  Hence  with  paganism,  the  rites  of 
this  system,  and  its  doctrines  found  their  way  into  the  early  christian  church.  But, 
as  a  systematic  tenet,  purgatory  was  not  tolerated  in  the  Roman  catholic  church,  until 
the  days  of  pope  Gregory,  the  great,  or,  the  end  of  the  sixth  century. 

It  is  true,  Origen,  Jerome,  and  Augustine  have  left  some  wild  speculations  on  it; 
which  indicate  that  they  had  been  occasionally  staggered  by  the  extravagrnt  specula- 
tions of  the  baptized  pagan  philosophers,  who  had  crept  into  the  church,  but  we  shall 
examine  the  Fathers  presently. 

I  showed  in  a  former  letter,  that  the  leading  rites  of  "Holy  Mother"  were  founded 
in  fanaticism,  and  by  the  visions  of  fanatic  "saints."  This  was  emphatically  the 
case  with  purgatory.  As  soon  as  pope  Gregory  was  known  to  favor  this  wild,  pagan 
fiction,  every  monk's  cell  began  to  team  with  visions,  apparitions,  and  miraculous 
disclosures, — all  designed  to  give  a  divine  sanction  to  the  purgatory  of  the  heathen; 
and  to  baptize  it,  as  a  christian  reaUty.  "The  flames  of  ^tna  and  Vesuvius,"  says 
Archbishop  Wake  in  his  "Discourse  on  Purgatory;"  "were  thought  to  be  kindled 
on  purpose  to  torment  souls.  Some  were  seen,  in  vision,  broiling  on  gridirons ;  others 
roasting  on  spits;  some  burning  before  a  fire;  others  shivering  in  water;  and  not  a 
few  smoking  in  a  chimney."  Nay,  says  he,  the  way  to  purgatory  was  found  out;  it 
was  situated  ip  the  centre  of  the  earth  ;  and  one  way  to  it,  lay  through  Sicilj",  another, 
in  Pozzoeto  ;  and  another  was  found  out  in  favored  Ireland  ;  namely  the  mouth  of  St. 
Patrick's  cave ! 

During  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  there  were  mighty  disputations  about  its 
locahty,  and  the  species  of  its  torments.  The  disputants,  wholly  taken  up  about  the 
circumstances,  gradually  wrought  themselves  into  the  belief  of  the  main  fiction.  \  et 
even  in  the  uosom  of  Rome,  many  opposed  the  ridiculous  folly.  In  1146,  Otto  Fri- 
singcnsis,  in  Chron.  lib.  8.  cap.  26,  thus  writes,— "That  theie  is  in  hell,  a  place  of 
j)urgatory,  wherein  such  as  are  to  be  saved,  are  either  troubled  with  darkness,  or 
decocted  with  the  fire  of  expiation,  some  do  affirm.''  See  Morn.  Exer.  p.  252.  This 
conveys  the  fact  that  all  did  not  then  believe  this  popish  fiction.  '"And  even  pope 
Adrian,"  says  Mr.  Gavin,  "confessed  that  there  was  no  mention  of  it  in  the  scripture, 
or  in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers."  See  Master  Key,  vol.  i.  p.  166,  c^c.  And  an  anr 
eient  Latin  writer  gravely  tells  us  that  the  Jesuit  Cottonm  was  so  puzzled  for  a  text  of 
scripture  to  confirm  it  infallibly — but  which  he  never  could  discover,  "  ut  ab  ipso  de- 
mone,  &c.  that  he  did  not  blush  to  implore  from  the  devil,  a  passage  of  scripture  most 
apt  to  establish  it."  But  he  got  no  answer !  For  even  the  devil  himself,  it  seems, 
could  find  no  proof  of  it  from  holy  writ  I 


l50  RT3MAN    CATrtoLlC   COW^ROVfiRfff. ' 

BuMike  every  Other  enormity  of  Rome,  designed  to  advance  the  power  of  priestctafl, 
and  pour  in  immeasurable  revenues  into  the  pope's  treasures,  and  the  priests'  purse*, 
it  was  stistained  by  all  the  weight  of  the  priesthood  :  and  was,  finally,  established  by 
the  council  of  Florence  in  the  year  1430.  And  therefore,  it.  is,  properly  speaking, 
only  403  years  old  !  And  lest  your  priests  should  venture  to  call  this  the  invention 
of  heretics,  I  rhall  here,  give  a  quotation  oUt  of  their  famous  writer,  Johannes  Roffen, 
quoted  in  Polyd.  Virg.  De  Invent.  Rerum.  Lib.  8.  cap.  1.  "Nemo  certe,  &c.  No  one 
true  believer  now  doubts  fif  purgatory,  whereof,  notwithstanding  among  the  anciente. 
there  is  very  litih,  or  no  mention  at  all.  The  Greeks,  to  this  day,  do  not  believe  a 
]p«urgatory.  Vet  who  will,  read  the  Commetitaries  of  the  ancient  Greeks.  And  the  La- 
tins did  not  all  of  them  together,  receive  the  truth  of  this  matter,  but  by  little  and 
little.  Neither,  indeed,  was  the  faith  either  of  purgatory  or  pardons,  so  needful  in  the 
jmmitive  church,  asnoiv  it  ?s."  See  Poly.  Virg.  De  Invent.  Rerum,  Lib.  8.  cap.  1. — 
And  Morn.  Ex.  p.  25L 

This  is  from  two  of  the  most  candid  Romish  writers  that  ever  wrote.  For,  besides 
admitting  thai  purgatory  and  pardons  are  modern  inventions,  and  recent  innovations; 
they  frankly  atoign  the  true  reason  of  the  invention.  In  primitive  times,  the  holy, 
and  good  men  did  not  live  the  luxurious,  and  proud  lives  of  Roman  tyrants,  and  ghostly 
despots,  wallowing  in  pride,  crimes,  and  luxuries,  beyond  bounds  !  Now,  the  court 
of  Rome  "  needs"  the  revenues  of  purgatory,  to  sustain  their  pomp,  and  the  infamouip 
course  of  their  lives ! 

In  the  progress  of  time,  the  monks,  and  friars  have  greatly  improved  upon  thi« 
lucrative  fiction.  Mr.  Gaven  in  his  Master  Key  of  Pojjery,  vol.  i.  p.  166,  &c.  has 
given  us  much  light  on  this  matter.  And  he  was  well  able  to  do  it.  He  had  been  long 
a  Spanish  priest,  and  had  been  deeply  instructed  in  the  system  of  this  ghostly  bank- 
ing business :  and  he  knew  the  whole  craft  of  adapting  purgatory,  and  its  "  apart- 
ments," to  the  greatest  advantage.  He  was  converted  from  popery  to  Christianity,  in 
1715. 

The  priests  and  friars,  says  he,  have  distributed  the  dungeons  of  purgatory  into 
eight  apartments ;  corresponding  to  the  eight  classes,  into  which  they  have  divided 
society.  And  this  division  is  shrewdly  made  to  increase  their  gain  ;  which  is  always 
the  onl3'-,  and  all  absorbing  object  of  these  holy  despots!  There  is  an  apartment  for 
each  according  to  their  wealth  and  rank.  For,  assuredly  a  king,  or  a  gentlemen  would 
rather  endure  a  more  rigid,  and  hot  fire  of  purgatory,  and  pay  higher  to  get  out  of  it, 
than  to  be  crammed  in,  among  coblers,  and  beggars,  even  in  a  less  hot  atmosphere ! ! 
Hence,  says  Mr.  Gaven,  they  place  the  poor  people  in  the  first  apartment,  where  the 
fury  of  the  fire  is  the  least.  In  the  second,  they  put  gentlemen,  gentlewomen,  and 
tradesmen's  wives!  In  the  third,  which  is  hotter  than  either  of  these,  they  dispose  of 
the  ladies  of  quality  !  In  the  fourth, — hotter  still, — are  placed  merchants,  and  trades- 
men. In  the  ffth,  which  is  very  hot,  indeed,  they  put  noblemen.  In  the  sixth, 
which  is  amazingly  hot,  they  arrange  the  grandees,  to  be  properly  scorched.  The 
seventh,  which  is  terribly  fierce  in  its  flames,  contains  princes.  And  the  eighth,  the 
superlative  degree,  the  deepest,  darkest,  and  hottest  of  all,  contains  kings!  Each  of 
these  has  a  tariff  of  prices  nicely,  and  accurately  adjusted  by  the  ghostly  financiers. 
And,  what  displays  a  shrewd  policy  in  this  novel  trafic,  there  is  power  lodged  with 
the  disinterested,  and  holy  priests,  to  change,  at  any  time,  the  lodgings  of  these  people. 
That  is  to  say,  should  a  poor  man,  or  a  tradesman  get  rich, — he  can  buy  the  priest's 
iflterest,  for  a  suitable  sum,  to  transfer  his  poor  dead  ancestor  into  a  more  genteel  ajiari^ 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTnoVERST*  251 

ment,  in  purgator\' !  He  can  buy  the  priest's  influence  with  "  the  court  of  heavenf" 
to  transfer  the  soul,  for  instance,  into  that  of  "  the  gentlemen."  And  should  he  grow 
very  rich,  and  rise  in  rank,  he  can  buy  the  priest's  prayers,  to  transfer  him  even  into 
the  apartment  of  "  noblemen  !"  It  is  true,  the  elevation  will  make  the  poor  soul  feel 
hotter  flames  :  but  men  must  pay  not  only  money  to  the  priest,  but  also  bear  pains,  to 
be  fashionable,  and  to  be  in  genteel  and  noble  com^pany  in  purgatory ! 

This  is  quite  an  important  branch  of  the  ghostly  trade  in  those  lands,  where  all 
ranks  arc  completely  priest-ridden ;  as  in  Spain,  Italy,  and  Austria.  Mr.  Gaven 
gives  us  instances  to  illustrate  this.  *'  A  cobler's  wife,  ignorant  and  pre  ud.  discovered 
that  her  father  was  among  the  beggars  in  purgatory.  She  implored  the  aid  of  a  friar, 
of  the  Franciscan  order  to  elevate  him.  "How  many  masses  can  you  spare  for  it?'''' 
said  the  priest.  She  said  ftfo.  It  was  too  little.  "  He  is  among  the  beggars, — even 
the  lowest."  The  lady  wept;  and  promised  him  more  money,  as  soon  as  she  got  it. 
And  the  quantum  being  duly  fixed,  and  paid,  the  "holy"  priest  graciously  transfei- 
red  him  to  the  fourth  apartment.  The  poor  soul,  no  doubt,  was  unspeakably  mors 
tormented  !  But  then,  his  daughter  after  this,  boasted  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  a 
rich  merchant!     See  Gaven  vol.  i.  p.  166,  &c.,  Glasg.  Prot.  vol.  i.  chap.  77. 

Could  I  find  room,  I  might  give  my  reader  anecdotes  to  illustraiG  the  good  accoltm 
to  which  the  priests  convert  their  purgatory.  In  Ireland  they  have  Penny  a  Week 
Societies,  called  Purgatorial  Societies.  And  those  who  pay  into  this  "charity"  a 
penny  a  week,  are  entitled  when  they  die,  to  so  many  masses.  And  thas,  b}'  paying 
before  hand,  and  their  kind  friends  paying  for  them  after  they  are  dead,  they  get  the 
better  chance  of  being,  probably,  sooner  out !  At  any  rate,  as  the  priest  gels  all  th« 
I^roceeds  of  "this  charity,"  he  receives  by  this  ingenious  scheme,  double  pay!  See  a 
ccgiy  of  "the  Constitution  of  a  Purgatorian  Society,"  in  Glasg.  Prot.  vol.  i.  ch.  77. 

The  appropriate  sale  of  these  purgatorial  fires,  for  cash  payments,  has  brought  iin- 
m^se  wealth  to  Holy  iMoiher;  and  filled,  to  overflowing.,  the  coffers  of  men,  bouiwl 
by  the  holiest  oaths,  to  their  vows  of  perpetual  poverty  ! 

And  they  have  been  rigidly  exact,  and  shrewd  in  the  collection  of  these  wages  of 
their  perjury  and  damnation!  They  have  grinded  the  faces  of  the  poor!  They  hav« 
taken  from  the  poor  widow  her  last  mite,  and  the  very  garments,  and  ihe  last  moi- 
«el  from  the  weeping  orphan!  Their  cunning  has  had  no  bowels  of  mercy!  Yet, 
occasionally  their  knavery  has  met  its  match  :  and  they  have  sustained  losses  f/om 
men  more  shrewd,  though  not  more  wicked  than  themselves. 

A  certain  heir  of  a  profligate  father  was  long  importuned  by  tJie  disinterested  priest 
to  pay  tor  masses  to  relieve  "his  poor  broiling  father!"  Tired  with  his  importimi- 
tiefl,  he  bade  him  go  on,  and  relieve  him.  An  apartment  in  tbe  castle,  was  arranged 
for  him ;  and  the  son  remained  by  the  devout  priest,  to  witness  the  masses,  and  watch 
the  holy  process  of  deliverance.  At  each  proper  pause,  and  the  close  of  a  mass,  down 
went  the  gold.  The  priest  went  on:  and  the  young  lord  still  counted  out  the  gui- 
neas! Masses  must  be  over  by  twelve.  It  was  now  eleven.  "  How  comes  he  out?" 
said  the  youth.  "We  have  him  nearly  all  out," — says  the  priest,  as  he  melo- 
diously chanted  the  mass;  with  a  sublime  devotion,  quickened  by  the  music  of 
the  descending  guineas!  "Hold  on,"  cries  the  youth,  "we  must  have  him  out 
before  twelve  !"  A  large  heap  of  gold  now  lay  on  the  table.  "  Is  he  not  out  yet  ?" 
eried  his  lordship.  "  Patience ;  my  good  sir,  your  father  was  a  tough  old  sinner," 
gays  the  grave  priest:  "he  has  been  pretty  deep  in  the  fires,  audit  needs  many  masses 
to  bring  him  up !"  Down  went  more  money  :  and  another  mass  was  chanted;  and  tbt 


^2  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY 

smoke  of  the  incense  ascended.  At  length  the  priest,  suspecting  that  he  could  get  no 
more  money,  exclaimed,  "He  is  out;  he  is  fairiy  on  his  legs!"  "  Glad  am  I  of  it," 
says  the  youth ;  "  and  now  being  on  his  legs,  let  him  shift  for  himself;  for  he  had  a 
pair  of  good  heels,  when  he  was  in  this  world."  And  saying  this,  he  sv/ejjt  up  all  the 
money ;  and  wishing  the  astonished  and  confounded  priest  a  good  morning,  he  left 
him  to  jjlanhov/  to  be  more  watchful  in  all  future  barterings  of  the  kind ! 

The  anecdote  of  priest  T/iomof  Dublin,  I  have  heard  related  by  an  Irish  gentleman. 
I  have,  since,  seen  it  published  in  the  Glasgow  Protestant  vol.  i.  ch.  75.  And  the 
Editor  of  the  Philanthropic  Gazette,  published  it  in  Oct.  27,  1819;  and  assured  the 
public  that  he  was  responsible  for  the  truth  of  it.  A  landlord  in  Dublin  called  on 
one  of  his  tenants  for  the  rent.  The  poor  woman  apologized  for  not  being  able  to  pay 
it;  and  informed  him  that  she  had  appropriated  it  to  ''a  holy  use.''  ''In  short,"  say» 
she,  "the  holy  praste  came  along  the  other  day,  and  says  to  me,  'have  you  heard 
from  your  husband?'  "  "Says  I — and  how  can  I,  when  he  is  dead, — and  sure  he 
is !"  "  Oh !  yes — but  have  you  not  heard  the  great  news  ?  A  mighty  crowd  were  pass- 
ing over  the  bridge  of  purgatory  to  heaven;  and,  och!  and  ill  luck  to  it, — it  fell  down, 
and  a  mrghty  number  fell  on  the  wrong  side — and  your  husband  is  one  of  them! 
And  nov/,  I  am  come  to  get  your  share  of  the  money  to  help  to  build  up  the  bridge." 
"iVnd  sure  am  I,"  continued  she,  "I  could  do  no  less  than  give  him  all  the  money  I 
had, — for  he  assured  me  it  would  be  an  expensive  job  to  rebuild  it !" 

I  have  the  pleasure  of  saying  that  the  gentleman  had  this  impostor  brought  before 
a  magistrate, — who  whined  out,  as  he  reluctantly  restored  the  money  to  the  poor 
widow, — "that  he  only  wanted  the  use  of  the  money  for  a  few  days,  and  played  this 
trick  to  obtain  it, — and  that  he  was  coming,  at  any  rate,  to  restore  it." 

I  shall  only  add  here,  that  there  are  hundreds  of  respectable  gentlemen  in  this  city, 
who  have  witnessed,  at  an  Irish  catholic  funeral,  what  is  called  the  auction  for  the 
soul.  After  getting  all  he  can,  at  the  mass,  the  priest  takes  a  plate  and  goes  round, 
in  the  house,  and  among  the  crowd,  and  out  of  doors  assembled  at  the  funeral,  call- 
ing out,  "  Who  will  give  a  leetle  more  to  help  the  poor  soul  ?  Will  none  of  you  have  a 
ketle  more  pity?  Will  not  one  of  you  give  us  more?  Remember  the  soul  of  your 
poor  neighbor  now  in  purgatory!"  And  thus  he  continues  to  dun,  until  his  own,  and 
the  people's  patience  is  completely  exhausted.  And  no  wonder  he  is  zealous  in  this 
"  charity"  for  "  the  poor  soul ;"  for,  all  this  money  goes  into  his  purse,  for  his  own  use ! 

In  this  happy  country  (which  may  God  mercifully  preserve  from  the  withering 
blight  of  priestcraft)  we  know  nothing  of  the  practical  evils  of  this,  and  the  other  parts 
of  the  popish  s^'stem.  Ask  our  enlightened  travellers,  in  Europe,  and  in  South  Ameri- 
ca; ask  our  highly  intelligent  Naval  officers,  who  have  been  there.  They  will  tell 
you  what  they  have  seen  and  heard,  a  mere  tithe  of  which  I  am  not  able  to  disclose, 
I  present  the  following  specimen  from  which  we  may  form  some  idea  of  the  jugglery, 
and  practical  absurdities,  with  which  the  fiction  of  purgatory  has  been  inseparably 
connected.  It  is  copied  from  a  paper  stuck  up  in  the  churches  of  Madrid,  in  Spain, 
three  years  ago. 

"The  sacred  and  royal  bank  of  piety  has  relieved  from  purgatory,  from  its 
establishment,  1721,  to  November  1825, 1,030,395  souls,  at  an  expense  of  £1,720,437 
11,402  do.,  from  November  1826  to  Nov.  1827.  15,276, 


1,041,797  souls.  Total  expense  :  £1,725,713. 


RODMAN    CATHOXIC    CONTROVERSY.  253 

'^•The  number  of  masses  calculated  to  accomplish  this  pious  work,  was  558,921 : 
consequently  each  soul  cost  one  mass  and  nine  tenths,  or  thirty-four  shillings  and 
fourpence." 

Behold  !  on  the  one  hand,  the  economy  of  the  Roman  church!  Souls  brought  to 
heaven  Deo  nolente,  autvolente,  whether  Cod  will  or  not,  at  the  rate  of  seven  dollars, 
and  thirty-five  cents,  and  a  half,  each!  And  on  the  other,  behold!  the  amount  of 
mone\'-  brought  into  the  priest's  hands,  namely;  seven  miiliofis,  three  hundred  and 
thirty  one  thousand,  four  hundred  and  twenty  two  dollars,  and  forty  cents !  And  all  thig 
in  Madrid  alone,  and  for  purgatory  mei.^ly,  and  in  a  hundred  aud  five  years!  Who 
can  form  an  estimate  of  the  whole  amount  ])lundered  by  these  ghostly  robbers,  from 
the  people,  through  the  Roman  catholic  church,  ^y  this  and  all  ^he  rest  of  the  basest 
and  the  most  diabolical  of  false  pretences  ?  If  a  culprit  in  our  crimint^.  courts,  is 
sent  to  the  States'  Prison  for  plundering  his  neighbor  out  of  a  few  hundred  dollars, 
under  pretences,  and  by  forgeries  far  less  atrocious  than  those — what  do  the  Roman 
priests  not  merit,  at  the  judgment  bar  of  the  nations,  for  the  countless  sums  they  have 
plundered  out  of  the  pockets  of  their  insulted  and  wretched  victims! 

May  I  be  permitted  to  beg  your  very  candid  attention  to  this  sore  and  alarming 
grievance,  enacted  daily  before  your  eyes. 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XIX, 


TO    THE    MEMBERS    OF    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

■Popery  condemned  by  Scripture  and  the  Fathers. 

"  Pope  Gregory  the  Saint,  sa^v  the  soul  of  Pascasius  boiling  in  the  hot  baths  of  St.  An- 
gelo  !"  "  Bishop  Tlieobald  heard  a  naked,  shiverinjr  soul  crying  out  of  a  lump  of  ire. ;  and 
prayed  it  out  by  melting  its  icy  prison  !"  "  St.  Bernard  i;;ever  could  decide  whether  the 
pains  of  purg  ilory  were  iw  Jire.^  in  ice,  or  sometliing  else."  Greg.  Dial.  IV.  40. — Hotiino-er, 
VI.  1360.— Bern.  1719. 

Fellow  Citizens: — I  shall  now  go  on  to  show  the  condemnation  of  purgatorv.'. 
First,  reason  and  scripture  condemn  it.  Here,  let  me  observe,  that  we  do  all  admit 
a  purification  of  the  soul,  by  afflictions,  as  it  were,  bj  fire,  under  the  grace  of  God. 
** Thou  hast  .'^ent  a  fire  into  our  bones;"  "we  have  gone  through  fire  and  water." 
These  are  the  instrumental  causes  ;  but,  as  the  meritorious  and  efficient  cause,  "the 
blood  of  Christ  purgeth  us  from  all  sins."     Heb.  ix.  14. 

This  is  the  only  purgatory  admitted  of,  by  the.  primitive  church,  and  by  ue.  And 
to  this  purpose  we  quote  Origen  on  Levit.  lib.  9.  "  Without  doubt  we  shall  feel  tha 
unquenchable  fire,  unless  we  shall  now  entreat  the  Lord  to  send  down  from  heaven, 
a  purgatory  of  tire  unto  us,  by  which  worldly  desires  may  be  utterly  consumed  in 
our  minds." 

But  the  Roman  purgatory  is  a  part  of  hell,  and  is  in  the  future  world,  and  io  entered 
after  death.  Here  all  that  entei ,  Jo  finally  reach  heaven,  after  they  iijve  been  purged 
from  their  "venial  sins,"  and  "  Lave  satisfied  the  temporal  punishment  for  their  mor- 
tal sins."  From  this  they  are  relieved  by  solemn  masses,  and  the  suffrages,  or  voivs 
of  the  church.     See  Canons  of  the  Council  of  Trent  Sess.  25. 

•23 


254  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVEBSY. 

The  texts  of  scripture  pressed  in  for  mere  show,  to  sustain  this  impious,  but  lucra- 
tive fiction,  are  these.  Matt.  xii.  32.  "There  is  a  sin  that  will  not  be  forgiven  in 
this  world,  or  the  world  to  come."  Now,  say  your  profoundly  learned  logicians, 
♦'this  implies  that  other  sins  may  be  forgiven  in  the  world  to  come."  This  is  a  false 
conclusion;  he  is  speaking  only  of  this  sin  and  of  no  other;  and  it  i^  utterly  absurd 
to  draw  from  a  particular  premise,  any  such  general  conclusion.  To  settle  the  point, 
let  Matthew,  in  ver.  3J,  and  Mark  iii.  29  explain  their  own  expression, — "He  hath 
never  forgiveness,  but  is  in  danger  of  eternal  damnation."  And  in  the  words, — "in 
this  world  and  the  world  to  come,"  or  more  literally,  in  this  age,  and  the  age  to  come^'^ 
our  Lord  seems  to  reprove  thaidle  traditions  of  the  Jews,  thatiu  "  the  age  to  come,''''  or 
the  days  of  Messiah,  "grace  would  be  much  more  liberal;  and  reverse  more  rigid 
decisions."  No,  says  our  Lord,  this  sin  will  not  be  forgiven  in  this  Judaic  state,  nor 
in  the  new  dispensation  of  I^Iessiah.  That  is,  in  the  words  of  Christ,  recorded  by 
Mark, — "  it  will  never  be  forgiven."  But  after  all,  what  has  this  text  to  do  with 
the  'purgatory  of  your  priests  ?  They  must  be  conscious  that  what  it  speaks  of,  and 
their  purgatory,  are  two  perfectly  different  things.  Tiiis  text  speaks  of  ^'forgiveness 
ofsin.''^  Now,  purgatory  has  nothing  to  do  with  "forgiveness."  It  is  no  place  of 
"  forgiveness."  The  priests  themselves  declare  it  to  be  a  place  oi^  suffering  until  th« 
victims  have,  by  these  torments,  given  all  the  required  satisfaction.'  How  improper 
is  it  to  appeal  to  such  a  text  I 

The  next  text  pressed  in  by  you  is,  Matt.  v.  25.  26.  "  If  thou  be  cast  into  prison  ; 
verily,  thou  shalt,  by  no  means,  come  out  thence,  until  thou  hast  paid  the  uttermost 
farthing!"  Here  the  "learned  priests,"  find  purgatory,  not  hell,  in  the  prison;  the 
"pay"  is  human  suffering :  and  "venial  sins"  are  "the  farthings!"  But,  they  have 
not  yet  proved  that  it  is  fur  gator  y,  and  not  hell,  that  is  here  meant.  And,  again,  they 
leave  this  point  unproved,  that  this  infinite  debt  ever  can  be  paid.  But  the  finally 
impenitent  never  can  pay  it.  Therefore,  they  never  can  get  out  ?  This  is  the  expla- 
nation given  by  all  judicious  expositors  :  and  that  by  your  own  Jerome.  Hear  his 
words: — "Semper  non  exiturum  esse,  &c.  He  will  never  come  out,  because  he 
will  always  he  paying  the  last  farthing ;  ivhilt  he  pays  the  eternal  puiiishment  of  his 
tarthly  sms."     Tom.  v.  p.  684,  in  Lament.  Lib.  1.  cap.  1.  Paris  Edit.  1602. 

There  is  another  text,  on  which  they  lay  the  greatest  stress;  1  Cor.  iii.  13. — 15. 
"The  fire  shall  try  every  man's  Avork," — "if  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he 
shall  suffer  loss,  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved,  yet  so  as  by  fire."  There  is  no  allu- 
sion here,  to  any  future,  middle  state.  The  apostle  speaks  of  different  preachers 
building  on  the  foundation  laid ;  his  doctrine  is  his  "  works"  here  spoken  of.  Now,  it 
can  have  no  reference  to  purgatory:  for,  there,  you  say,  men  are  tormented  in  their 
souls ;  but  this  text  says,  "  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work,  of  what  sort  it  is." 
Again,  this  fire  tries  the  work  of  every  man:  as  well  those  who  build  gold,  as  those 
who  build  stubble.  But,  b}'  your  own  confession,  every  man  does  not  go  to  purgatory  : 
the  pure  enter  heaven,  and  the  atrocious  men  dying  "in  mortal  sins,"  go  to  hell. 
Finally,  it  is  not  affirmed  here  thnt  "ct  manis  saved  by  fire,''"'  but  "  he  is  saved  as  by 
//•€."  Hence  it  has  no  reference  whatever  to  the  purgatorial  flames;  but  to  that 
purification,  which  is  effected  by  trials  operating  on  his  soul,  as  it  were  by  fire. 

But  their  Herculean  club  by  which  their  unique  Romish  logic  levels  all  opposition^ 

i- taken  from 2  Maccab.  xii.  43.  &c.  "He  sent  the  2,000  drachms  to  Jerusalem,  to  be 

laid  out  in  sacrifices  for  the  dead.     It  is  a  pious  and  wholesome  thought  to  pray  for  the 

■  dead,  that  they  may  be  loosed  from  their  sins."     This  is  the  form  in  which  Bellarmirie 


RCMAN    CATHOLIC    CO.NTROVERST.  255 

quotes  It.  But  he  is  guilty  of  perverting  the  Greek  of  the  original  writer.  It  runs 
thus — "  He  sent  200,  not  2,000  drachms,  to  Jerusalem,  to  buy  sacrifices,"  "pio  peca- 
to,"  for  sin, —or  a  sin  offering.  The  words, — "  pro  morluis,"  "for  the  dead,"  is  a  sheer 
forgery  of  that  writer  !  Maccabees,  it  seems,  sent  money  for  the  purchase  of  victims 
for  a  sin  offering.  But  in  rct'erence  to  the  writer's  recommendation  "of  praying  for 
the  dead,  <&lc."  it  is  of  no  mere  weight  than  a  sentence  from  Voltaire,  or  Pope  Hilde- 
brand  !  The  book  was  not  written  by  inspiration:  the  author  apologizes  for  his  defects 
in  the  close  of  it:  and  the  Jews  never  received  it  into  their  canon,  and  this,  Bellar- 
mine  has  confessed;  and  what  is  unspeakably  more  to  the  confusion  of  all  your  Jesuits, 
St.  Gregory  the  pope  pronounced  the  Maccabees  ''ex  librisnon  canoncis,  not  canoni- 
cal books."  ?eo  Greg.  Mor.  Lib.  19.  in  cap.  39,  Beati.Iobi.  Benedict.  Edit.  Paris  1705. 
It  is  manliest,  I  trust,  to  every  unprejudiced  mind,  that  there  is  no  one  solitary 
passage  in  all  the  holy  Bible,  which  can  be  pressed  in  to  give  any  countenance  to  the 
Roman  fiction  of  purgatory :  that  there  is  no  one  solitary  sentence  in  it  which  can  be 
tortured  even  to  utter  the  most  distant  allusion  to  it !  Hence  the  scriptures  are  utterly 
against  it.  Besides,  the  Bible  declares  that  "  Christ  hy  his  one  offenns;,  forever 
2)erfected  them  that  are  sanctijied.''  And  "there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  ])y 
which  we  can  be  saved,  but  by  Ci  rist's  name."  It  is  the  one,  great,  uniform  doctrine, 
in  scripture,  that  "  ?Ae  hlood  of  Christ  ivashes  away  all  sin.'''  But  this  doctrine  of 
purgatory  sets  up  a  rival  to  ChrisVs  atonement;  and  teaches,  with  infidel  audacity^ 
that  millions  enter  heaven  by  the  merits  of  their  "  own  torments  and  praj'ers  for  the 
dead."  Hence  it  is  as  o,/posite  to  God's  wdll,  expressed  in  the  Bible,  as  is  th^  deadliest 
infide'ity  of  Voltaire,  and  Hume  ! 

The  foilowir.af  texts  I  shall  merely  set  down,  as  condemning  your  doctrine,  Eccles. 
ix.  10.     Rom.  viii.  1. — 2  Cor.  v.  1.  and  ver.  10.     Rev.  xiv.  13. 

Anu,  here,  I  might  call  3'our  attention  to  many  extravagant  absurdities,  in  the  doc- 
trine of  your  priests'  purgatory.  But  I  shall  mention  only  a  few  things  to  prove  how 
much  it  is  abhorrent  from  reason,  and  scripture.  First: — It  is  founded  on  the  suppo- 
sition that  God  Almighty,  after  having  forgiven  us  aJi  our  sins,  does  yet  punish  and 
torture  us  for  them  !  Let  it  be  distinctly  understood,  thatyouteach  that  no  one  goes  into 
purgatory,  but  those  ichose  sins  are  pardoned  ;  for  when  a  man  dies  under  mortal  sin, 
or  is  unpardoned,  he  is  doomed  to  hell.  Now,  here  you  teach  that,  after  God  has 
forgiven  us,  and  while  Christ  loves  us,  and  the  Huly  Ghost  comforts  us, — we  are  yet 
sent  into  ineffable  tortures  for  thousands  of  years! ;  Can  any  man  in  the  exercise  of 
his  reason,  with  the  Bible  before  his  eyes,  believe  that  your  god  who  presides  over 
your  purgatory,  is  really  the  compassionate  God  of  our  salvation? 

Second: — Your  priests  in  their  purgator}',  represent  God  as  punishing  those  whom 
he  loves,  wl;h  horrid  tortures,  of  inexpressible  flames  on  the  soul,  merely  for  the  pu- 
mshmenVssake.  They  admit  that  guilt  is  taken  away,  they  admit  that  those  in  purga- 
tory have  ihei^  sins  all  pardoned;  and  that  they  "are  in  a  state  of  perfect  grace.'' 
These  pains  are  endured  as  a  pur  ishment,  (tremendously  severe,)  for  venial  sins,  and 
something  or  other,  called  "'temporal  punishment  due  for  sin^ — and,— "the  crime  of 
punishment!"  "  Cum  reatu  culpae,  culpis  suis  remissis."  These  I  quote  from  Bel- 
^r-rmine,  De  Purg.  Lib.  ^.  cap.  1.  sub  fine.  Now,  when  guilt  is  removed,  is  not  pu- 
nishment remos'ed?  And  when  these  men  in  your  pur-ratorv',  "«re  pardoned  and  in  a 
fitatt  oj  perfect  grace,"  can  any  man  under  the  .-^un,  tell  us  what  the  ''crime  of  puniah- 
ntnV  Means?  It  either  has  no  meaning  ;  or  it  represents  the  merciful  Father  of  our 
souls,  as  torturing  his  own  pardoned  children-  in  the  flames,  for  the  mere  s<^ke  of  pu- 


S56^  ROifAN    CATHOtrc    CONTROVERSY. 

nishing  them!  ^^  Cum  reatu  culpa/''  See  Dr.   Sherlock's  Find,  of  his  Preservathe 
against  Popery,  p.  71.  72. 

Third: — This  doctrine  of  purgator5%  in  addition  to  its  ineffable  absurdities,  revre- 
gents  your  priests  as  meti  absolutely  destitute  of  the  bowels  of  humanity — as  unspeak- 
ably more  cmel  than  sava^ges  oJft7;ng  up  human  sccrifces  !  I  take  the  evidence  froai 
their  own  statements.  Here  are  thousands  of  their  own  "beloved  flocks,"  their  for- 
mer kind,  and  obliging  nei.^hbors ;  their  very  "dear  friends,"  "rolling  in  the  hottest, 
and  most  horrid  flames;"  all  of  them  "in  indescribable  tortures,  and  agonies."  And, 
yet,  O  monsters !  they  refuse  to  pray  tliem  out :  even  although,  by  their  own  confes- 
sion, they  can,  by  a  word  of  their  lips,  or  by  a  mass  or  two,  and  a  little  brie:  praj-er,  set 
them  free  from  their  agonies!  Unless  the  stipulated  exaction  of  money  he  paid  down, 
they  will  not  spend  one  breath, — they  will  not  be  at  the  cost  of  even  a  cheap  wafer^ 
and  a  few  masses,  to  pray  out  their  dearest  friends,  or  one  individual  of  their  "  very 
dear  flock!"  They  whine,  and  cant,  and  haggle  about  a  few  coppers,  wi.ile  their 
"beloved  friends,"  for  whom  "they  feel  so  much,"  are  "broiling  in  the  fiercest 
flames !"  May  the  mercy  of  heaven  deliver  me,  and  you,  my  fellow  citizens,  from 
the  jaws,  and  fangs  of  these  Romish  tigers,  compared  to  whom  the  red  lion  of  Africa 
is  tender  mercy.  He  devours  the  bleeding,  lacerated  body  :  they  devour  substance^ 
and  body,  and  soul,  at  once ! 

Fiimlly: — Pur&atory  is  condemned  by  the  Fathers. 

1.  Justin  Martyr  taught  thus : — "  Mcra  6z  &c.  After  the  departure  of  the  soul  from 
the  body,  there  is  instantly  made  a  distinction  between  the  just  and  unjust: — the 
souls  of  the  righteous  are  brought  to  paradise  with  the  angels :  the  souls  of  the  wicked 
to  places  in  hell.     Respo?is.  ad  Orthodox.  Quest.  75  :  Usher  p.  121 . 

2.  Lactantius  says  ; — "  Let  no  one  imagine  that  a  soul  is  judged  immediately  after 
death,  for  all  are  detained  in  one  common  custody,  till  the  time  arrives,  when  the 
supreme  Judge  examines  their  merits.  Then  those  whose  righteousness  is  approved, 
shall  receive  the  rev/ard  of  immortality',"  &c.  He  then  notices  the  doom  of  the 
wicked.  He  thus  taught  the  Linibus  patrum,  but  he  had  no  idea  of  a  purgatory. 
Tom.  i.  p.  574,  De  Yit.  Beata.  Lib.  7.  Paris  Edit.  1748. 

3.  Hilar}-,  in  358,  says  : — "  Futuri  boni,  &.c.  There  is  hope  of  future  good,  when, 
departing  from  this  body  into  the  entrance  of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  all  the  faithful 
shall  be  preserved  in  the  custody  of  rhe  Lord  ;  being  placed,  mean  time,  in  the  bosom 
of  Abraham;  the  approach  to  which  is  forbidden  to  the  wicked  by  the  intervening 
gulph."     On  Psalm  2,  also  on  Ps.  120,  p.  978,  Paris  Edit.  1652. 

4.  Cyprian  is  full  and  explicit  in  the  testimony  that  he  never  heard  of  modern 
purgatory.  In  his  Book  De  mortalitate,  section  2,  he  says  :  "  Ejus  est,  &c.  It  is  for 
him  to  fear  death,  who  is  not  willing  to  go  to  Christ.  It  is  for  him  to  be  unwilling  to 
go  to  Christ,  who  does  not  believethat  he  begins  to  reign  with  Christ,"  &c.  Thus  he 
represents  death  as  "our  going  to  Christ :"  and  "  all  who  live  by  faith,  when  they  die 
go  to  Christ."  And  quoting  the  words  of  Simeon  he  adds: — "This  proves  and  wit- 
nesses that  the  servants  of  God  then  have  peace, — then  enjoy  free  and  quiet  rest, 
T^'hen,  being  drawn  from  these  storms  of  the  world,  we  seek  the  haven  of  an  eternal 
seat,  and  security  ;  when  having  paid  the  penalty  of  death,  we  arrive  at  immortality." 
Again,  in  section  11,  he  says, — "The  righteous  are  called  to  a  refreshing;  the  Un- 
righteous are  dragged  av/ay  into  torment :  safety  is  quickly  gi-anted  to  the  faithful ; 
but  punishment  to  the  wicked."  See  the  Oxford  Edit.  1682;  or  the  Edit,  of  Pame- 
lius  of  1593,  which  I  use. 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST.  257 

5.  Tertullian,  so  far  from  believing  in  these  tormenting  flames  to  purify  Gcu's- 
peo't^le,  or  even  pitying  the  dead,  says;— "  Chriftum,  &c.  We  injure  Christ,  wheu 
we  do  not  bear,  with  fortitude,  the  departure  of  those  who  are  called  away  by  him ; 
as  if  they  were  to  be  pitied !  1  desire,  says  the  apostle,  to  be  received,  and 
to  be  v:ith  Christ.  How  superior  does  he  show  the  desire  of  the  christian  to  be! 
If,  therefore,  we  impatiently  grieve  for  any  who  have  obtained  this  desire,  we  show 
that  we  are  unwiUing  to  obtain  it!"  If  this  Father  had  believed  in  your  purgatory, 
he  would,  with  you,  have  pitied,  and  mourned  for  them,  in  the  flames!  If  he  had 
believe  1  in  your  purgatory,  he  would  not  have  thus  uniied  our  departure  at  deuth,  with 
our  being  immediately  with  Christ.     Tert   I-e  Patientia.  cap.  9,  Paris  Edit.  1675. 

6.  Gregory  Nyssen  says  :  "  sia-cp  dw  &.c.  As  by  a  certain  abuse  of  speech,  we  call 
a  bay  of  the  sea,  an  arm,  or  a  bosom,  so  it  seeniPth  to  me  that  the  word  signifies  the 
exhibition  of  those  immeasurable  good  things,  by  the  name  of  a  bosom,  into  which  alt 
men  that  sail  by  a  virtuous  course  through  thia  present  hfe,  when  they  loose  from 
hence,  put  their  souls  into  a  good  bosom ;  or  as  it  were,  into  a  haven  free  from  dann 
g«r."     JJiai.  De  Anim.  et  Resur.  Tom.  ii.  p.  651, 1'aris  Edit. 

7.  Gregory  Nazianzen  taught, — '' Q.i  PeXnov  &c., — that  it  is  better  to  be  corrected 
and  purged  now,  than  to  be  sent  to  the  torment  there,  where  the  time  of  punishing 
is,  and  not  of  purging."  Orat.  15,  in  Flag.  Graudinis:  and  Usher's  Works  againsu 
Popery,  p.  123. 

8.  St.  Basil  thu '  expressed  himself, — "  Ouro?  h  aiov  &c.  This  is  the  time  of  repent- 
ance,— the  other  life  after  this,  is  that  of  retribution :  this,  of  working ;  that  of 
rewarding."     In  Proem,  in  Regul.     See  Usher,  p.  123. 

9.  St.  Ambrose  taught  that  death  "  is  a  certain  haven  to  ihos^  who  had  long  beeu- 
tossed  in  the  sea  of  life."—"  It  makes  not  a  man's  state  worse  ;  but  such  as  it  findeth 
ia  every  one,  even  such  it  reserves  unto  future  judgment :  and  refreshes  with  rest." 
^'  It  is  a  passage  from  corruption  to  incorruption ;  from  mortality  to  immortality ; 
from  trouble  to  rest."     De  Bono  Mortis,  cap.  4. 

10.  An  ancient  Greek  Father,  usually  bound  up  with  Justin  Martyr's  works,  says  : 
"McraSt  &c.     But  after  the  departure  from  the  body,  a  separation  of  the  just  and 
unjust  takes  place.     The  righteous  go  into  paradise  with  angels,  unto  the  vision  of' 
Christ;  and  the  souls  of  the  wicked  into  hell,  &c."     Q^uest.  et  Resp.  ad  OrthodoxoSy_ 
p.  437.     Finch,  206. 

11.  Justin  Martyr  writes: — "Tw  6c  Szc.  When  we  assert  that  the  souls  of  the  unjust 
are  in  existence  after  death,  and  are  sensibly  tortured ;  but  that  the  souls  of  the  g-ood 
are  happy,  free  from  punishment;  wn  think  we  sang  tho  same  things  that  the  poets 
and  philosophers  have  done."  Apolog.  pro  Christ..  2,  Paris  Edit.  1515.  Thus  he- 
believed  in  two  states  only, — heaven  and  hell.     He  lived  in  A.  D.  150. 

12.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  says — '"O  nc^reiov  &c.  He  who  believes  in  the  Son  of  God 
is  not  judged,  but  is  translated  from  death  to  life.  The  just,  indeed  were  tried  through 
many  years,  but  that  which  they  obtained  by  the  diligence  of  a  long  life,  Jesus  freely 
confers  on  us,  in  one  hour.  For,  if  you  believe,  you  shall  be  saved,  and  translerred- 
ro  paradise,  by  him  who  therein  introduced  the  thief."     Cat.  5,  Gxf.  Edit.- 1503. 

I  do  not  conceal  from  you  that  the  priests  who  can  r«ad  Greek,  may  find  out  a 
passage  in  this  Cyril,  somewhat  favorable  to  modern  popish  errors.  But  it  is  com- 
fortable to  reflect  that  we  can  produce  you  two  credible  witnesses,  that  Cyril  was  not 
deemed  by  the  primitive  men,  quite  orthodox  after  his  later  vagaries.  "  Cyril's  faiih 
was  suspected."     Ruffinus  and  Jerome  observe  that  he  often  changed  his  faith,  an<ir 

S3* 


258  ROMAW  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

communion."     Diipin  denies  that  be  did  change  his  faith,  but  these  two  Fathers  had 
the  best  means  of  ascertaining  this.      See  Dupin's  Eccles.  Hist.  4  cent. 

13.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  speaks  thus  decidedly  : — "  Asjc  yap  &c.  For  I  think  we 
ou"-ht  to  decide  it,  as  being  highly  probable  that  the  souls  of  the  saints,  when  they 
depart  from  their  bodies,  are  commended  unto  God's  goodness,  as  unto  the  hands  of 
a  most  dear  Father ;  and  do  not  remain  on  the  earth,  as  some  unbelievers  have  ima- 
gined, until  they  have  had  the  honor  of  a  funeral;  neither  are  they  carried,  as  the 
souls  of  the  wicked  are,  unto  a  place  of  immeasurable  punishment,  that  is  into  hell ; 
but  rather  fly  to  the  hands  of  the  Father  of  all ; — our  Lord  and  Savior  having  first 
prepared  a  way  for  us."  In  Johan.  Evar  g.  Lib.  xii.  cap.  36,  Tom.  iv.  p.  1069, 
Paris  Edit.  1(338. 

14.  Chrysostcm  vv-rites  thus,  in  opposition  to  purgatory  :  "The  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  like  unto  a  man  that  is  an  householder.  The  man  that  is  the  householder,  is  Christy 
to  whom  heaven  and  earth  are  as  a  house.  But  his  families  are  celestial,  and  terres- 
trial ;  for  whom  he  builds  a  hotise,  with  three  chambers,  that  is  hell,  heaven,  and 
earth.  The  combatants  dwell  upon  the  earth ;  the  vanquished  in  hell;  and  the  con- 
querors m  heaven."     Homil.  in  Math.  xii. 

15.  St.  Athanasius  wrote  thus  : — "  Om  tan  &c.  That  is  not  death  that  befalleth  the 
just ;  it  is  a  translation ;  they  are  carried  out  of  this  world  into  eternal  rest:  they  go 
as  out  of  a  prison,  from  their  wearisome  life,  to  the  good  things  prepared  to  them." 
De  Virgin.     See  also  Usher,  p.  121. 

16.  St.  Jerome,  in  Eplst.  25,  comforting  Paula,  on  the  death  (,T  her  daughter, 
mentioas  only  the  two  states, — "  hell,  and  its  eternal  fires,  and  glory  to  which  believ- 
ers are  instantly  conducted  by  angels."     See  Usher,  p.  123. 

17.  St.  Augustine,  in  some  parts  of  his  works,  seems  rather  inclined  to  go  with 
Origen,  as  if  he  inclined  to  v.-aver  respecting  the  eternal  pains  of  hell.  In  his  Tom. 
vi.  p.  222,  Enchir,  ad  Laur.  he  speaks  of  it  being  "not  incredible  that  there  is  a  cer- 
tain purgatorian  fire  after  this  life,"  and  "it  may  be  inquired  whether  there  be  such  a 
thing,  &c."  Hence,  being  doubtful,  it  connotbe  supposed  to  have  been,  vvuh  him,  an 
article  of  faith.  But,  notwithstanding  the  idle  blundericgs  of  your  priests,  and  a 
sciolist  who  lately  made  some  quotations  out  of  Augustine,  it  is  manifest,  that  this 
eminent  Father,  in  his  best,  reflecting  moments,  goes  decidedly  against  purgatory.. 
Hear  his  words, — "After  this  life  there  remains  no  compunction,,  or  satisfaction." 
Again  : — There,  is  all  remission  of  sin  ;  here,  be  temptations  to  sin  ;  here,  is  the  evil 
from  which  we  desire  to  be  delivered  ;  but,  there,  (in  the  other  state,)  are  none  of: 
these."  Again, — "We  are  not  here  without  sin;  but  we  shall  go  hence  without 
sin."  See  Homil.  50.  Tom.  x.  Enchir.  c.  115.  Perkins,  vol.  i.  p.  607.  folio.  More- 
■decidedly  still  speaks  he  m  his  book  De  Peccat.  Merit,  et  Remiss.  Lib.  1.  cap.  28. 
**  There  is  no  middle  place  for  any,  he  must  needs  be  with  the  devil  ivho  is  not  with 
Christ.''''  Again, — "  The  catholic  faith  resting  on  divine  authority,  believes  the  first 
place  the  kingdom  of  heaven:  and  the  second,  hell  !  A  third  we  are  wholly  igno- 
rant of."  Again, — "  There  is  no  place  for  the  amending  of  our  vv-ays,  but  in  this  life  ; 
for  after  this  life,  every  one  shall  receive  according  to  what  he  seeketh  after  in  this." 

13.  St.  Bernard  in  Epist.  266,  says»  "What  is  it  to  thee,,  and  thine  earthly  vestures,, 
that  being  about  to  go  to  heaven,  thou  hast  the  more  glory  to  put  on  instantly?'^ 

VJ.  In  like  manner  the  venerable  Bede  speaks  in  the  most  decisive  terms.  Here 
are  his  words,  on  Psalm  vi.  "Here  only  is  the''place  for  mercy;  after  this  world, 
there  is  plu^e  only  for  justice.''' 


&OMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  259 

20.  Anselm  on  2  Cor.  V.  says  of  the  pardonerl,--"  Instantly  on  their  leaving  the 
flesh,  they  do  rest  in  htavenly  faith." 

21.  Epiphanius  asserts  that; — "The  saints  are  in  honor;  they  rest  in  glory;  and 
their  departure  hence,  is  into  perfection."  See  Adv.  Haeres.  78,  in  the  end  :  Perkins, 
vol.  ii.  p.  569.  folio. 

22.  Olympiodorus  says, — "Ej/'w^e&c  In  whatever  place,  therefore,  whether  of 
light  or  of  darkness;  of  evil  doing,  or  of  virtue,  a  man  is  taken  at  his  d  ath,  in  that 
doth  he  remain:  either  in  light  with  the  just,  and  with  Christ:  or  with  the  wicked, 
and  the  prince  of  tins  world."     Expo--  of  Ecclesiast.  cap.  xi.  ;  Usher,  p.  127. 

I  shall  close  with  two  remaikable  testimonies  against  purgatory.  1st,  The  councilor 
Aquisgran,  now,  Aix  la  Chapelle,  thus  decreed  : — "  Tribus  itaque,  &:c.  By  three  modes 
are  the  sins  of  men  punished  :  by  two  in  this  life ;  and  one  in  the  life  to  come."  The 
two  "are  by  compunction  and  repentance;  and  by  God's  corrections.  "The  thirds 
in  the  other  world,  is  awful  and  tremendous;  when  the  Judge  shall  say,  "Depart  ye 
cursed  into  everlasting  fire,  with  the  devil  and  his  angels."  See  Aquis.  Capit. 
Concil.  Ad  Pipinium  mlssa;  Lib.  1.  cap.  1  :  Usher,  p.  129;  and  Labb.  Concil.  Tom. 
ix.  844.— Crabb.  Concil.  Tom.  ii.  711.     Edgar's  Var.  p.  466. 

2.  At  the  council  of  Basil,  in  the  year  1433,  the  deputies  of  the  Greek  church,  gave 
in  their  solemn  dissent  from  the  Latin  church's  purgatory.  "Ilio  &c.  A  purgatory 
by  fire,"  said  they,  "  that  is  temporal,  and  shall  have  an  end,  we  have  neither  receiv- 
ed from  onr  doctors  ;  nor  do  we  know  that  the  church  of  the  East  receives  it."  They 
added, — "No  small  fear  doth  trouble  us,  lest,  by  admitting  of  a  temporary  fire,  both 
penal  and  purgatory,  irt  shall  destroy  the  full  consent  of  the  church!'''  "Hence  we 
never  have  affirmed,  nor  will  we  at  all  ever  gfiirm  it."  S.  Senens.  Lib.  6.  Bihl.  Scmct. 
Annot.  259-  Also  Martin  Crusius,  In  Turco  Gracia,  p.  186,  Arch.  Usher,  against 
popery,  p.  182. 

The  crafiy  Latins  did,  indeed,  cajole,  and  entrap  the  Greek  deputies,  to  admits 
"  for  th'  -ake  of  peace,  and  unity,"  a  kind  of  half  purgatory  ;  namely,  without  Jive. 
But  the  Greek  church  did,  with  indignatiou,  reject  this  union,  and  the  belief  of  Ro- 
mish purgatorv^  And  to  this  day,  do  all  the  churches  of  the  East  reject  it.  Usher,. 
p.  132. 

Can  auy  thing,  therefore,  equal  the  audacious  impudence  of  Bellarmine,  who 
permits  himself  to  say, — "  that  all  the  ancients,  Greek  and  Latin,  from  the  apostles' 
days,  did  constantly  teach  that  there  was  a  purgatory."     De  Purg.  Lib.  i.  cap.  15. 

But  it  is  pleasant  to  'ind  virtue  enough  in  some  of  your  own  writers,  to  give  this 
Jesuit  the  lie  !  Three  of  them  declare  that  "in  the  ancient  writers,  there  is  almost 
NO  mention  of  purgatory,  esi  -cially  in  the  Greek  writers.  And,  hence,  the  Greeks 
believe  it  not  until  this  day."  I  refer  you  to  Alph.  De  Castr.  Cont,  Hccr.  in  Indulg. 
Lib.  8.— J.  Roffens.  Luth.  Confut.  Art.  8.— And  Poly.  Virg.  De  Invent.  Rer.  Lib.  8. 
cai).  1.— Usher,  p.  124. 

Thus,  amid  the  diversity  of  the  opinions  of  the  Fathers  of  the  primitive  ages,  we- 
perceive  in  the  most  certain  and  distinct  manner,  that  jmrgatonj  was  utterly  unknown 
to  them!  Hence,  as  it  wants  x\\g  unanimous  consent  oi  the  Fathers,  your  priest*  are 
bound  in  Linor,  to  reject  and  condemn  it  as, — in  fact  it  is, — an  impious,  and  diabolical 
invention.  If  they  yet  sustain  it,  without  the  unanimous  consent,  then  do  they  take 
incredible  pains  to  make  us  believe  that  they  are  knaves,  and  that  they  deem  all  their 
victims  to  be  utterly  void  of  understanding! 

And,  my  fellow  citizens,  \t<u  will  readily  admit  that,  in  view  of  the  whole  argu- 


560  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVBRST. 

ment  on  purgatory,  I  cannot  give  you,  and  the  priests  a  better  advice  than  that  of 
good  old  archbishop  Usher,  "  Those  of  you,  who  bUndly  toUow  cardinal  Bellarmine, 
may  do  ve-'y  well  to  look  a  head,  lest,  while  you  are  seeking  for  purgatory,  you  may 
stumble  into  hell  !" 

I  havtj,  thus  finished  my  argument  on  the  condemnation  of  popery,  by  Reason, 
vScripture,  and  the  Fathers.  And  I  rest  the  decision  with  the  enlightened  American, 
public. 

I  am,  fellow  citizens,  yours,  &c. 

New- York,  November  5,  1833.  W.  C.  B. 

P.  S.     It  is  somewhat  "ominous,"  that  the  date  of  this  Letter,  falling  out,  in  lue 

usual  course,  has  happened  on  the  famous  day  cf  the  celebration  of  "  the  d'scovery  of 

the  popish  gunpowder  plot,  in    Great  Britain!     May  Almighty  God  preserve  our 

republic  ;  and  grant  that,  as  h  nation,  we  may  never  need  to  celebrate  any  such  day 

of  national  deliverance !     Amci^. 

W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XX. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,  AND  THE  LORDS  BISHOPS    OF  THE  ROMAN    CATHOLIC. 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

"  Siceiides  Musse,  paullo  majora  canamus,  * 

Non  omues  arbusta  juvant,  humilesque  myricae." 

Virgil. 

REVEREND  Fathers: — It  is  not  unknown  unto  you,  that  we  and  your  learned 
priests  of  New  York,  have  been  discussing  the  doctrines  of  your  church,  until  they 
retreated  from  their  defence,  and  abandoned  the  cause  of  "Holy  Mother,"  to  the  no 
small  grief  and  scandal  of  the  "simple  faithful."  We  next,  in  continuation  of  the 
discussion,  addr^osed  ourselves  to  the  members  of  your  flock.  "  The  condemnation 
of  Popery  by  Reason,  Scripture,  and  the  Fathers," — has  been  uttered  before  the 
American  puL)lic  :  and  no  one  of  your  priests  has  opened  hi«  mouth  to  assign  a  rea- 
son before  the  people,  why  popery  should  not  be  sentenced,  in  pursuance  of  the  ver- 
dict found  and  declared.  I  leave  it  to  the  public  to  pronounce  the  sentence.  Before 
I  close,  I  beg  leave  to  make  my  appeal  to  your  ears.  Reverend  Fathers.  And,  in  as 
much  as  every  section  of  the  churches,  is  on  a  perfect  footing  of  equality  in  this  glo- 
rious, free,  and  happy  republic;  and  in  as  much  as  my  office  is  as  high,  and  as 
honorable,  in  my  church,  as  yours  is  in  your  church, — I  shall  speak  as  one  who  feels 
himself  on  a  perfect  footing  of  equality  ;  recognizing  your  superiority  only  in  years, 
and  in  that  exclusively.  And  I  do  it  under  the  perfect  consciousness  that  your  tenets 
and  principles, — and  mine,  are  all  open  to  the  inspection  of  our  fellow  citizens ;  while 
to  Almighty  God  alone,  are  we  all  accountable,  as  the  only  Lord  of  the  human  con- 
science. 

Now,  in  the  first  place.  Reverend  Fathers, — the  call  on  you  is  loud  and  impera- 
tive, for  a  general  Reformation  in  your  church.  The  religious  tenets,  and  morals, 
patronized  and  sustained  by  you,  are  those  of  the  dreary  times  of  the  dark  ages.  Bet- 
ter men,  and  men  invested  with  higher  offices  in  your  church,  than  any  of  you, 
Fathers,  have  felt  the  necessity  of  a  Reformation.     Gregory  VII.  in  the  eleventh 


ftOMAN    CltBOLIC    COfllROVE^.ST.  2^1 

century,  deplored  the  errors  and  the  vices  of  tht  Church.  In  the  Lateran  Council 
called  in  1215,  Pope  Innocent  iii.  deplored  in  a  moving  manner,  the  wretched  state 
of  Holy  Mother.  "It  is  time,"  said  he,  "that  j';d^'mejit  begin  at  the  i.ouse  of  God, 
For  all  the  corruption  which  is  in  the  people,  chiefly  proceeds  from  the  Clergy,  sinccr 
if  the  priest  who  is  consecrated,  sins,  he  causes  the  people  to  sin,  facit  delinquercr 
populum,  &:c."  Again, — "Perit  fides,  <fcc. — faith  perishes,  religion  is  disfigured^ 
liberty  is  confounded,  justice  is  trodden  under  foot,  heretics"  (we  know  what  he  means 
hy  her tti  3)  "spiing  up,  schismatics  gather  strength,  the  wicked  rage."  Set  Sac 
Concil.  Labbaei  et  Coss.  Tom.  xi.  p.  134.  Pari^^  F.dit.  1671. 

These  complaints  were  repeated  in  the  first  Council  of  Lyons,  in  1245,  Pope  Inno- 
cent IV.  otated  as  his  first  reason  for  calling  it, —  'the  various  excesses  of  the  Clergy.'^ 
The  same  were  repeated  in  the  second  Ccnncil  of  Lyons,  in  1274.  Church  discipline 
and  ''the  licentiousness  of  the  Clergy'"  called  aloud  for  reformation.  See  Delahogue, 
Tract.  De  Eccles.  Append.  2.  p.  447.  and  Dupin  Tom.  x. 

You  all  know  the  famous  speech  of  Dr.  Chancellor  Gerson,  delivered  in  the  Coun- 
cil of  Pisa,  in  1409,  before  Pope  Alexander.  He  thus  introduces  Holy  Mother  apos- 
trophising the  audience; — "Ah!  wo  is  me  !  Unhappy  me!  From  what  a  height  of 
dignity  am  1  dragged  down,  by  the  hands  of  the  wicked !  How  is  my  beautiful  com- 
plexion changed,  and  the  splendor  of  ray  countenance  obscured,  &c."  This  is  equal 
to  the  language  of  Luther,  describing  the  noted  old  "Mother  of  Babylojp."  And  lest 
you  may  suppose  that  Dr.  Gerson  meant  this  to  be  the  evil  doings  of  the  "heretics,*' 
he  goes  on  to  enumerate  the  cause;  namely,  the  vile  archbisho])S  ignorant  of,  or 
despising  their  superiors;  and  simonical  clerg}',  ignorant  and  vicious.  He  holds  up 
"the  v.-arlike,"  and  carnal  prelates  to  execration.  "From what  roots,"  he  exclaims, 
'/can  I  believe  these  evils  to  have  sprung?  From  the  abominable  pollution  of  the 
Clergy  /"  "Those  to  whom  marriage  is  forbidden,  that  they  may  attain  to  angelical 
purity,"  (yes,  verily,  to  angelical  purity !)— ''I  behold  polluted  with  immorality,  and 
uniting:  impure  deeds,  with  impure  words,  filling  their  stomachs  with  feastmgs,  and 
skilled  in  getting  drank;  and  snoring  over  their  cups, — these,  and  a  thousand  other  ills 
have  been  i)ispected  by  me  /"  Gers.  speech,  in  Counc.  Pis.  1409-  See  also  Mansi 
Collect.  Concil.  p.  414.  Venet.  Edit.  1784,  and  Finch  p.  90. 

And  not  only  so,  but  even  the  popes  were  deposed  in  theCouncil  of  Pisa  as  ''SchiS' 
inatics,  notorious  heretics,  entangled  in  the  enormous,  and  infamous  crimes  ol^  perjury, 
and  violation  of  promise.'"  And  this  is  excelled  in  its  manly  force  and  accuracy  of 
delineation,  onlv  by  your  historian  Baronius,  when  describing  the  three  rival  popes 
in  1044.  He  calls  them  ''the  three  headed  beast,  u'ho  had  issued  out  of  the  gates  of 
hell!"  Baronii  Annal.  Tom.  xi.  A.  D.  1044.  This  festering  evil,  by  the  very  laws 
of  corruptioii,  went  on  waxing  worse  and  worse.  Even  your  holy  Council  of  Trent 
was  avowedly  called  for  thl>,  among  other  reasons, — "to  procure  a  rej.)xmation  of  the. 
clergy  and  the  christian  people."  And  the  Legates  rehearsed  the  same  reasons,  and 
avowed  that  "the  evils  whicli  oppress  the  church  surpass  in  number,  thcsea-san^; 
and  cry  out  even  to  heaven!" 

I  speak  of  things  well  known  to  you  all.  Reverend  Fathers.  You  do  know  ihat 
your  starichird  historians  record,  how  the  bishop  of  Bitonto,  iu  his  Oration,  on  a  Sab- 
bath, before  the  Trent  Fathers,  said—"  Quibus  enim,  &c.  With  what  monsters  of 
baseness,  with  what  a  heap  of  pijllution,  with  what  a  pist  of  iniquity,  are  the  priests 
and  the  people  corrupted  in  the  holy  church  of  God !"  You  know  that  Friar  George, 
t>f  Lisbon,  in  his  Oration,  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  Lent,  before  these  Fathers,  declared 


2C2  aOMAN    CATEOLIC    CO^T»OVjlkSt. 

that  "  ibe  children  of  Holy  Mother,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  rolhers,  oppressitfe 
rulers,  impious  princes,  and  infidel  prelates  /"  I  refer  you  to  Labb.  el  Cossart.  Concil. 
Tom.  XI w  733,734. 

But  no  reformation  has  been  ventured  on :  no  nerve  in  all  your  ranks  was  blessed 
with  courage  enough,  to  turn  the  river  in,  to  cleanse  the  Augean  stable  1  And  as  cor- 
ruption by  the  fixed  laws  of  nature,  always  waxes  worse  and  worse,  when  left  to  itself, 
^ — what,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  sacred,  must  now  be  the  state  of  things  in  Holy 
Mother  c  T  Rome  !  In  our  republic,  it  is  true,  your  church  presents  the  aspect  of,  in 
some  degree,  a  comparative  purity,  and  correctness.  But  your  priests  dare  not  come 
out  to  defend,  and  practice  your  doctrines,  as  in  the  Roman  catholic  churches  abroad. 
For  this  less  offensive  state  of  things, — you,  and!  should,  in  justice,  say,  we  also  are 
indebted,  exclusively  to  the  potent  influence  of  American  opinions,  and  Amerioan 
morals  ! 

And,  Second,  you  cannot  possibly  be  ignorant,  Reverend  Fathers,  that  the  deplo- 
rable slate  of  yourchurchcs  in  point  of  knowledge  and  morals,  is  of  necessity  altoge- 
ther, produced  by  certain  doctrines,  tenets,  and  rites  of  your  church.  I  have  establish- 
ed the  fact  by  sufficient  evidence,  and  also  by  the  confession  wrung  from  the  reluc- 
tant lips  of  your  priests  here,  that  i\\Q  first  and  grand  fundamental  tenet  of  the  Romish 
church  involves  deism., — as  necessarily  as  cause  does  effect.  You  boldly,  and  unblush- 
ingly  deny  the  holy  scriptures  to  be  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice!  You  sit  in 
judgment  on  the  holy  Bible,  and  pretend  gravely  to  give  it  all  the  authority  it  has, 
or  can  have.  You  sit  in  the  temple  of  God  !  You  do  usurp  God's  throne,  by  tradi- 
tion, and  your  church's  authority, — even  as  does  the  deist,  by  his  unenlightened  rea- 
son.    Hence  the  pestilent  morals  of  deipm  pervade  your  church  throughout ! 

Contrast,  I  implore  you.  Fathers,  the  state  of  your  flocks,  and  that  of  all  Roman 
catholic  lands,  in  point  of  knowledge  and  intelligence;  in  point  of  virtue  and  sound 
morals,  with  those  of  the  same  class,  in  society,  among  those  whom  priestly  intole- 
rance is  pleased  to  call  heretics, —  hereby  meaning  good  Protestants.  Is  there  a  man 
who  has  eyes,  or  who  can  connect  three  ideas  in  his  mind,  who  does  not  perceive  the 
astonishing  difference  between  the  two  classes, — Roman  catholics,  and  Protestants, — 
in.  all  lands?  Compare  Spain  with  England,  Ireland  with  Scotland,  the  United 
States  v.ith  South  America?  It  is  not  owing  to  any  inferiority,  by  nature,  in  the 
Spaniard  and  the  Irishman.  These  are — especially  the  Irishman,  a  noble  minded, 
warm  hearted,  and  generous  race  of  men.  They  are  deteriorated  purely,  and  alone 
bytheparnlizingand  infernal  influence  of  popery!  And  you  act  on  principle,  you 
know.  VV  nenever  a  nation  becomes  an  illumined,  and  moral  people, — forthwith  is 
(he  cruel  and  savage  yoke  of  civil,  and  ghostly  tyranny  broken  off,  and  dashed  on  the 
ground.  Hence  the  pope  detests  knowledge  and  sound  morals,  as  he  detests  the  loss 
of  power  and  of  gold  ! 

Now,  Reverend  Fathers, — how  long  will  you  permit  wicked  ra^n,  arid  profligate 
shephf :  I3  to  prey  on  the  flocks?  How  long  will  you  allow  a  simple  and  unlettered 
people  10  be  abused  by  priests  putting  such  questions  as  they  do,  unblushingly,  to  them 
at  the  confessional?  How  long  will  you  allow  them  to  corrupt  the  youth,  and 
maidens,  and  married  women,  by  pouring  in  their  ears,  ideas  which  virtue  and  modesty 
cannot  listen  to  without  horror;  and  which  can  be  breathed  by  none  but  sacerdotal 
libertines,  and  other  cognate  minions  of  vice,  so  far  gone  in  conformity  to  the  image 
pf  their  Father,  that  the}'  do  all  his  damning  service  without  even  a  blush ! 

yes,  Fathers,  we  possess  copies  of  these  questions,  in  Latin,  French,  and  Spanish, 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  263 

•svhich  these  pr.estly  libertines  are  permitted,  by  you,  to  put  to  3'oung  females,  and 
married  women,  in  our  land,  weekly,  and  daily  !  Were  I  to  set  them  down  in 
English  before  my  readers  they  would  be  horror  stricken!  Yet,  the  reciting  and 
teaching  these  most  obscene  questions,  in  the  ears  of  wives  and  maidens,  forms  a 
part  of  your  religion  !  The  reciting  of  these  corrupting  and  loathsome  questions 
forms  a  part  of  the  daily  instructions  given  to  Protestant  young  ladies,  in  the  nunnery- 
seminaries  of  your  church ! 

In  the  name  of  the  Most  Holy  One,  1  call  on  you.  Reverend  Fathers,  to  put  a  stop 
to  this  pollution  i  I  implore  you  to  banish  the  shocking  abominations  from  the  con- 
fessional, and  from  the  land!  Can  it  be  wondered  at  that  in  Europe,  monasteries 
and  nunneries  have  been,  even  to  a  proverb,  denounced  as  so  many  Sodoms  and 
Gomorralis  '  The  ipost,  if  not  all  of  you,  are  foreigners :  and  you,  therefore,  have 
had  the  best  opportunities  of  knowing  this  to  be  a  fact  beyond  denial !  You  knoiu 
what  I  mean  !  I  appeal  to  the  Mtimirs  of  Scipio  De  Ricci,  now  before  the  public  I 

But  your  very  standard  books  of  morality,  Reverend  Fathers,  are  full  of  corrup- 
tion. The  order  of  Jesuits,  you  know,  has  been  revived  especially  for  the  purpose  of 
overrunning  this  heretical  government  and  republic !  Regiments  of  these  papal  sub- 
jects and  household  troops  are  pouring  in  upon  us !  And  their  standard  works  of  Jesuit- 
ism— so  often  condemned  in  Europe,  are  put  into  the  youth's  hands  in  the  popish 
seminaries  here.     Novv  hear  a  specimen  of  these  books  used  in  the  Jesuit  schools. 

I  have  referred  to  them,  once  and  again.  But  as  these  moral  writers  are  the  order 
of  the  day,  with  you;  and  as  they  are  the  manuals  tor  Protestant  young  men  and 
young  females,  whom  cruel  parents  abandon  to  the  fangs  of  Jesuits,  I  shall  quote  a 
few,  again. 

"  A  child  who  serves  his  father,  may  secretly  steal  as  much  as  his  father  would 
have  given  a  stranger  for  his  compensation!  Escobar,  Theol.  Moral,  vol.  iv.  lib. 
•34.  p.  348.  Precious  instruction  for  our  sons !  Hear  again, — •'  Servants  may 
secretly  steal  from  their  masters  as  much  as  they  judge  their  labor  is  worth,  more 
than  the  wages  which  they  receive."  Cardenas,  Chr.  Theolog.  Diss.  23,  p.  474.  To 
this  agrees  Tabernas;  and  also  Lud.  Molina,  Tom.  ii.  p.  1150.  This  last  writer 
says,  "De  bonis,  &-c.  They  may  secretly  abstract  something  of  their  master's  goods, 
providing  they  have  asked,  and  been  refused :  and  provided  they  can  do  it  without 
iniury  to  themselves,  and  their  shame,"  &c.  Hear  the  instructions  to  a  thief,  "A  man 
is  not  bound  to  restore  what  he  has  stolen  in  small  sums,  however  large  may  be  the 
total."  Taraburinus  Explic.  Decal.  Lib.  8.  p.  £05.  Next,  hear  what  a  good  wife 
under  a  Jesuit,  confessor's  hands,  may  do, — "A  woman  may  take  the  property  of  her 
husband,  to  supply  her  spiritual  wants;  and  to  act  like  other  women."  That  is,  to  pay 
her  priest  for  putting  to  her  these  infamous  questions  at  the  confessional!  See  Gor- 
donus,  Theol.  Moral.  Univ.  Lib.  5.  p.  826.  But  I  beg  leave  to  refer  my  reader  to  a 
world  of  similar  quotations  in  Secrtta  Monita  of  the  Jesuits,  Appendix,  Princeton 
Edit.     And  to  Paschal's  Provincial  Letters,  vi.  viii.  ix. 

Now,  I  put  it  to  your  consciences.  Reverend  Fathers,  whether  such  doctrines,  and 
the  licentious  questions  put  at  the  confessional,  and  the  easy  rates  of  absolution,  and 
pardon  of  sin  granted  to  those  who  confess,  and  pay  the  church's  dues,  have  not  pro- 
duced the  present  appalling  state  of  morals  in  the  Romish  church.  And  v/ith  all  this 
impiety,  deism,  and  immorality,  in  your  communion,  in  popish  lands,  are  you  grave, 
or  in  jest,  when  you  actually  afhrra  that  there  is  no  salvation  out  of  your  Roman 
catholic  church  ?     As  it  is  really  impossible  that  you  can  be  in  earnest,  I  tell  you 


2i()4  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    COFTllOVERST. 

gravely,  Reverend  Fathers,  that  you  do  carry  your  jests  too  far,  when  you  persuade 
your  simple  victims  that  all  Protestants  are  damned !  ! 

But,  THIRD, — We  have  already  demonstrated  that  your  succession  from  St.  Peter, 
and  the  true  church,  is  utterly  cut  off:  I  beg  to  refer  to  my  Letter  VIII.,  &c. :  that 
you  have  lost  the  succession  of  the  ministry,  which  became  utterly  aud  finally  cut  off 
at  the  Council  of  Trent,  when  the  church  of  God  came  out  of  "Holy  Mother,"  and 
left  her  "as  a  cage  of  unclean  lirds;"  that  you  have  lost  the  pure  doctrines  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  the  holy  ordinopxes  of  Christ:  that  you  have  substituted  a  sacrifice  and  an 
offering  of,  as  you  say,  human  flesh  and  blood,  called  the  mass,  instead  of  the  Holy 
Supper;  and  a  human  device  of  anointing  with  chrism,  instead  of  the  baptism  of  the 
Lord :  and  have,  moreover,  added  five  rites, — such  as  marriage,  holy  orders,  extrem* 
unction,  &c.  ;  which  you  have  very  facetiousl}'  honored  with  the  title  of  sacraments. 

Now,  Reverend  Fathers,  the  most  serious  doubts  are  entertained  by  good  men, 
whether  your  church  of  Rome  be  not,  in  verity,  a  perpetuated  branch  of  paganism! 
Conscious  that  such  grave  inquiries  are  very  congenial  to  your  grave  habits,  I  shall 
soon  resume  this  theme. 

I  am,  Reverend  Fathers,  yours,  &c. 

Nov.  19,  1833.  W.  C.  Brownlee. 


LETTER  XXI. 


^■0    THE    LORD    ARCRBISHOP,    AND    THE     LORDS    BISHOPS    OF    TEi:    ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

The  Romish  church  a  perpetuated  branch  of  ancient  paganism. 
"  Hail,  holy  Pantheon  !  house  of  all  our  gods  !" 

Keterend  Fathers — I  introduced  a  very  grave  subject  in  my  last;  such  as  is, 
m  all  respects,  very  befitting  your  Reverence's  devoutest  investigation.  May  I  beg 
you  to  follow  me  in  the  serious  inquiry  ? 

It  is  certain  that  neither  you,  nor  we,  can  find  your  church  in  the  holy  Bible. 
Hence  you  have  been  compelled  by  complicated,  and  mortal  errors,  to  reject  the  holy 
scriptures,  as  the  rule  of  faith;  and  betake  yourselves  to  traditions,  to  keep  yourselves 
in  countenance  with  your  interminable  load  of  ceremonies  and  rites!  Pardon  me,  I 
err.  We  do  find  her  in  the  Bible;  but  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  holy  pale  of  Christ's 
true  and  pure  church.  We  find  her  in  Revelations,  ch.  xvii. ;  and  in  2  Thess.  ch.  ii. 
But,  if  we  cannot  find  you  as  a  true  church  in  the  ])ages  of  the  Bible,  we  can  find 
your  whole  system  in  the  field  of  paganism  ;  only  under  a  new  nomenclature.  It  is 
baptized  paganism. 

Let  us  approach  one  of  the  pagan  temples,  then,  Fathers,  one  of  your  cathedrals. 
What  a  harmony  !  What  a  consistency  !  What  a  fair  sisterhood  !  When  we  enter 
a  pagan  chapel,  the  first  thing  we  find  was  "holy  water,  and  a  priest  sprinkhng  it." 
"The  Amula,"  says  Montfaucon,  "was  a  vase  of  holy  water,  placed  by  the  heathens 
at  the  door  of  their  temples,  to  sprinkle  themselves  with."  This  is  exactly  what  you 
have  ordered  to  be  placed  in  your  chapels !  The  true  church,  following  the  corn- 
mauds  of  Christ,  has  no  such  thing. 

The  next  thing  which  strikes  ui  as  we  enter*  pagan  temple,  is  the  cloud  of  smoke 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  265 

from  the  burning  of  incense.  This  is  exactly  the  same  in  your  chapels !  In  the 
heathen  temple,  j'ou  could  see,  in  their  large  apartments,  a  number  of  altars,  all 
blazing,  while  the  curling  volume  of  smoke  ascends  in  a  cloud  ;  so  it  is  exactly  in 
your  cathedrals  !  A  number  of  altars  are  reared,  and  are  smoking  with  incense. 
In  the  heathen  temples,  the  images  stood  in  rows,  all  around,  as  in  the  Pantheon  :  or, 
-as  in  other  temples,  the  conspicuous  image  of  the  ido;,  the  genius  of  the  place,  stood 
alone.  So  it  is  exactly  in  your  temples!  The  Pantheon  of  Rome,  in  olden  times, 
the  house  of  all  the  gods,  is  now  the  temple  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  God,  and  all  the 
JSaints!  The  whole  form,  and  the  idolatry,  are  the  same  to  the  very  letter;  only 
new  names  are  given  to  the  idols.  The  3Iother  of  God,  has  the  place  of  Jupiter, 
"the  father  of  the  gods."  Of  old,  every  pagan  could  find  his  own  god,  here,  and 
worship  him :  even  so,  now,  ever\  one  of  the  simple  faithful,  from  all  countries,  can 
^nd  his  ov/n  patron  saint,  and  worship  him,  in  the  temple  dedicated  by  pope  Boniface 
to  St.  Mary,  and  all  the  saints ! ! 

in  the  pagan  temples,  the  images  and  paintings  were  black  with  smoke.  Even  so 
are  the  idols  in  your  old  temples.  When  Dr.  Middleton  saw  the  "holy  image"  of 
our  Lady  in  the  temple  of  Loretto,  he  was  amazed  to  find  her  as  black  as  the  image 
■«.»f  ancient  mother  Proserpine,  or,  of  an  old  negress! 

In  the  heathen  chapels,  lamps  and  torches  were  kept  continually  burning  before  the 
faces  of  the  idols,  and  n.t  the  altars ;  and  near  the  dead.  This  was  so  peculiarl}^  a  pari, 
of  the  heathen  religion,  chat  the  primitive  christians  opposed,  and  ridiculed  it.  "  They 
light  up  candles  to  God," — says  Lactanlius, — "  as  if  he  lived  in  the  dark  :  and  do  not 
the}-  deserve  lo  pass  for  madmen,  who  offer  lamps  to  the  Author  and  Giver  of  light? 
In  this,  your  church  copies  the  pagan  model  exactly !  Each  altar,  and  each  image 
has  its  lamp,  and  candle !  And  what  an  array  of  wax  candles  you  light  up  to  the 
dead,  to  illumine  their  path  through  the  dark  vjlley  !  But  it  must  Le  their  misfortune, 
not  your  fault,  that  these  magnificent  wax  candles  do  not  move,  and  travel  through 
the  valley  of  death,  with  them ! 

Let  us,  in  imagination,  pass  farther  into  the  interior  of  the  heathen  temples.  We 
behold  their  votaries  on  their  knees,  before  their  Jupiter,  or  Mars,  or  Venus,  beating 
their  breasts,  and  performing  their  holy  evolutions.  Enter  a  Romish  cathedral,  and 
you  behold  the  same.  Near  an  altar,  a  priest  kneels,  and  goes  through  his  canonical 
gestures,  and  contortions,  and  evolutions!  At  another,  or  near  the  favorite  idol,  an- 
other kneels,  or  some  hiniible  votar\',  praying, — "  O  holy  Mother,  by  the  rights  of  a 
mother,  command  thy  Sou  to  hear  us  !"  Vv  hile  the  priest  repeats  this  in  tlie  canonical 
Latin,  *'0  felix  puerpera,  nostra  plans  scelera,  jure  matris,  impera  Redemptori !" 

There  is  another  shocking  piece  of  conformity,  too  striking  to  pass  unnoticed.  The 
pagans  offered  up  human  hangs, — htiman flesh, — human  blood,  on  their  altar!  Now, 
Reverend  Fathers,  if  we  are  to  believe  your  solemn  word,  and  that  of  your  ])riest3, 
the  wafer  and  the  wine  are,  in  transubstantiation,  turned  really  into  ChrisVs  very  body, 
hones,  nerves,  muscles ;  and  the  imne  into  his  real  blood,  ivhich  floived  in  his  veins! 
This  is  either  most  certainly  so,  or,  you  utter  an  imposing  falseliood  before  the  world. 
Unless  you  utter  falsehood,  then,  you  do  offer  up  daily,  and  weekly,  human  flesh,  and 
human  blood,  in  sacrifices  of  the  mass!  That  is,  if  you  utter  truth,  you  yourselves, 
do  as  really  offer  up  human  sacrifices,  as  ever  did,  or  do  the  heathen  !  And  j^ou  make 
your  victims  of  imposition  eat  this  human  flesh,  and  drink  this  human  blood/  In  the 
name  of  humanity,  and  of  common  sense.  Reverend  Fathers,  will  you  persist  in  such 
literal  conformity  to  paganism,   as  to  perpetuate  human  sacriJicesJ     Wil!  you  persis 

24 


266  ROMAN   CATHOLIC    COI^TROVERST. 

in  maklnf^  the  simple  faithful  cannibals,  as  were,  and  slill  are  the  heathens !  Speak- 
the  American  public  demands  an  answer. 

In  every  heathen  temple,  the  priest,  in  his  outre  vestments,  was  attended  by  a  little 
boy,  in  a  white,  fantastic  dress,  with  a  little  box,  or  chest  in  his  hands.  This  contained 
the  incense  for  the  altar.  This  was  too  pretty  a  part  of  the  show,  to  be  omitted  by 
your  church.  Hence  every  one  has  seen  a  little  boy,  clothed  in  a  surplice, — yes,  a 
5ur]9Zice,  like  a  young  Astyanax,  strutting  near  his  father  Hector.  The  youth  bears, 
with  solemn  grimace,  the  sacred  utensils,  and  the  incense  pot;  which  the  prie?t,  with 
a  number  of  ludicrous  grimaces,  and  gestures,  swings  around  the  altar,  exactly  a» 
the  pagan  priests,  in  every  respect,  did.  See  Middleton's  Letter  from  Rome,  p. 
13G,  &c. 

How  ingeniously,  and  industriously  you  have  copied,  and  even  exhausted  the 
pagan  ritual!  I  have  discovered  another  prominent  feature  of  your  pagan  model. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  priest  has  a  little  box,  called  the  Pix.  In  this  is  kept  hi? 
wafer  god ;  into  this  he  puts  what  of  the  wafer  god  is  left,  after  communion.  This 
he  carries  about  with  him,  to  be  always  ready,  "  to  prepare  a  sinner  for  dying,"  and 
give  him  a  bran  god  passport  to  heaven,  by  laying  it  on  his  tongue  !  Now,  I  was 
pretty  confident  that  this  was  borrowed :  for  the  Roman  priests  are  by  no  means 
geniuses,  or  remarkable  for  their  own  inventions!  I  discovered,  lately,  the  origin  of 
this,  in  Mr.  Hope's  Collection  of  statues,  and  antiquities.  There  is  in  that  collection 
an  Egyptian  Pastophora  holding  the  god  Horus.  And  in  a  London  publication  of 
January,  1833,  we  have  a  description  of  it.  "  A  Pastophora  was  an  initiated  woman, 
who,  in  the  religious  processions  of  the  Egyptians,  carried  the  god  Horus,  in  a  boz 
before  the  people,  and  presented  the  idol  to  the 'adoration  of  the  multitude.''  Here  we 
have,  at  once,  the  origin  of  the  Pix,  with  the  god  in  it;  and  of  the  carrying  it  about; 
and  also  the  elevation  of  the  host,  to  the  adoration  of  the  admiring  Roman  catholic 
mobs!     It  is  purely  pagan  ! 

My  learned  author  adds,  that  "the  language  of  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  one  of  the 
Greek  fathers  who  lived  in  Egypt,  who  mentions  the  females  called  Pastophora, 
(Paed.  3.  2.)  v/ith  respect  to  the  lifting  up  of  the  covering  of  the  box,  and  the  direc- 
tions of  the  Roman  canon  of  the  Missal,  are  curiously  similar.  The  "  discooptrit 
ca/jcer?i,"  of  the  Mass  Book,  would  seem  to  be  almost  a  literal  translation  of  Clemens' 

Greek  sentence,  which  is,  as  follows  : "  O\tyov  erravacreCKag  tov  KaTairtracriiaTOi  og  6ti^uv  rov 

Qnvy  That  is,— "Having  drawn  the  veil  aside,  a  little,  as  exhibiting  the  god."  See 
Prot.  Joura.  of  Lond.  Jan.  1833.  p.  44. 

The  processions  of  the  heathen  through  the  streets,  carrying  their  idols,  dressed 
out  in  flaunting  display,  with  the  votaries  bearing  wax  candles,  or  flambeaux  in  their 
hands,  have  been  faithfully,  I  should  say,  slavishly  copied,  in  all  Roman  catholic 
countries.  To  see  one  of  the  processions  on  Lady  day,  and  the  overgrown  ruddy 
faced  priests  waddling  along,  in  all  their  motly  dresses,  like  so  many  well  fed  buffoons, 
with  grave  men,  and  even  magistrates,  and  even  delicate  ladies,  with  long  wax  can- 
dle^;, at  noon  day,  in  their  hands, — does  actually  remind  one  of  the  days  of  pagan 
Rome,  and  the  ceremonies  of  demon  worship  throughout  all  pagan  lands! 

The  ancient  temple  of  Romulus  was  sacred  to  that  Roman  hero  god.  Here  infants 
were  presented  by  the  ancients  to  be  cured  of  diseases  by  this  god,  "  who  was  gracious 
to  children."  Itis  remarkable  that  this  temple  at  Rome,  is  now  dedicated,  says  Mid- 
dleton,  to  the  clirislian  hero  god,  or  saint  Theodorus,  who  had  been  exposed  when  an 
infant,  like  Romulus,  and  who  like  him,  cures  their  diseases.     When  the  Doctor 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  ^^7 

Visited  this  church,  he  actually  saw  a  dozen  of  well  dressed  females,  holding  ihelr 
sickly  infants  before  the  christian  Romulus, — saint  Theodorus!  !  Here  we  actually 
have  a  wicked  superstition  perpetuated  from  the  founding  of  Romulus'  temple,  to  tliis 
day,  by  chc  Holy  Head  of  the  Holy  Mother  Church.' 

Even  the  cruel  superstition  and  lacerations  of  the  priests  of  Bellona,  and  the  vota- 
ries of  Isis  are  kept  up,  under  the  pious  care  of  your  Holy  Father !  In  their  proces- 
sions, these  pagans  used  to  lash,  and  cut  their  bare  backs.  The  only  music  they  used 
was  the  crack  of  their  lashes,  and  the  suppressed  groan  of  the  victims,  atoning  their 
warlike  deity  by  their  own  tortures !  Your  sect  of  the  Flagellantcs,  or  the  Whippets 
do  keep  it  up,  even  to  the  letter.  Besides,  at  the  season  of  Lent,  in  Romish  countries, 
the  procession  o{ the  Jitshly  disciplinarians,  march  into  the  chapel:  at  the  tinkling  of 
a  bell,  the  lights  are  extinguished,  their  backs  laid  bare,  and  their  whips  are  applied 
to  effectual  purpose,  by  the  modern  votaries  of  Bellona.  Nothing  is  heard,  in  the 
dark,  during  the  canonical  hour  sacredly  devoted  to  seif  torture,  but  the  cracking  of 
the  consecrated  whip!  It  is  not  to  be  understood,  however,  I  believe,  that  the  blows 
fall  certainly  on  their  backs.  The  wise  ones  know,  that  they  can  make  as  much  noise 
in  the  diirk,  and  get  the  flesh  as  well  mortified,  by  applying  the  whip  to  the  benches! 
It  might  be  highly  beneficial,  and  might  contribute  speedily  to  bring  to  theii"  senses, 
thesedevout  "  whippcrs"  and  "'holy  disciplinarians  of  the  unruly  flesh,''  ifhisHoli- 
ness  would  re-enact  the  edict  of  the  judicious  and  wily  old  emperor  Commodus, 
which  "  compelled  these  Bellonarii  to  lash  and  cut  themselves  in  good  earnest ;  and  not 
feign  it  merely,  and  impose  on  the  people.''  This  point  of  holy  discipline,  I  beg  to 
refer  to  you,  Reverend  Fathers.  And  bishop  England  can  carry  the  projected  model 
of  improvements  to  Rome,  when  he-  returns  to  his.  Holiness  to  complete  his  schemes, 
on  our  country's  subjugation  ! 

Even  the  water  idolatry  of  the  pagans  has  been  kept  up  by  your  church,  where  she 
has  flourished  gloriously.  The  ancients,  and  also  the  modern  pagans — you  know, 
held  certain  rivers  holy.  And  to  wash  in  them,  was  equal  to  the  purifying  fire  of 
vour  lately  invented  purgatory  :  and  to  be  drowned  in  tliem,  did  forthwith  open  up  a 
pathway  to  immortal  glory  I  Now,  who  has  not  heard  of  St.  Patrick's  Purgatort, 
an  island  in  Lochderg,  in  Donegall  county,  Ireland?  "To  this  lake  and  island  im- 
mense multitudes  are  sent,  annually,  by  the  Romish  priests  there,  to  wash  away 
their  sins,  precisely  in  the  same  manner,  as  is  done  in  the  Ganges,  and  in  India  !  .^ec 
a  similar  description  to  this,  in  the  Glasgow  Protestant,  ch.  54. 

You  have  left  few  important  parts  in  the  pagan  rites  uncopied ;  and  especially 
have  they  met  your  pious  and  devout  imitation,  wheij  they  could  be  rendered  useful 
to  the  gain  of  the  priestly  craft.  The  ancients  used  the  sprinkling  of  holy  water  not 
only  on  men,  but  on  beasts.  They  sprinkled  their  horses,  as  Middleton  has  shown, 
in  the  Circcnsian  games.  From  this  is  borrowed  the  Roman  annual  festival  iii 
January,  at  Rome.  All  who  wish  "good  luck"  to  their  horses,  asses,  and  mules, 
bring  them  up  to  the  door  of  the  convent  of  St.  Anthony,  near  St.  Mary's  the  Great- 
There  stands  a  holy  priest  clothed  in  his  sacred  surplice,  armed  with  his  consecrated 
brush,  and  his  tub  of  holy  water,  wailing  with  a  solem  grimace,  the  approach  of  his 
brother  cattle.  As  they  come  up,  he  souses  them  with  his  salt  brine  ;  and  in  retura 
for  his  "  Benediction  of  the  cattle,"  receives  for  each  a  sum,  proportioned  (o  the 
zeal  or  ability  of  the  devotee.  This,  says  Dr.  Middleton,  "  procures  a  revenue  suffi- 
cient to  keep  no  less  than  fifty  idle,  kzy,  fat  monks,  for  a  whole  year  I"  Letter  from. 
Rome,  Ti.  14L 


2G5  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.. 

Thus  I  have  traced  ihe  origin  of  your  prominent  rites,  ceremonies,  and  custom?.  I 
ought  to  have  added  that  the  pope  bears  the  very  title,  and  office  of  the  ^reat  officer 
of  the  pagan  reUgion,  in  Rome  pagan,  namely,  Pontifex  Maximus,  the  chiefest 
pantif.  This,  true  hislor}^  declares  to  be  his  genuine  founder, — and  by  no  means  the 
humble,  and  holy  St.  Peter,  who  would  absolutely  have  been  shocked  into  a  fit  of 
holy  zeal  against  the  impious  sycophants,  had  he  been  hailed  Pontifex  Maximus,  or 
our  lord  god  the  pope  Peter.  It  is  well  for  you,  Reverend  Fathers,  and  his  "  holiness 
of  Rome,"  that  the  choleric  apostle  is  not  alive,  nor  among  you.  For,  if  he  were,  he 
would  let  you  feel  the  "temporal  sword"  about  your  ears;  as  manfully  and  sharply 
as  he  exercised  it  in  "cutting  off  the  ears"  of,  by  far,  your  betters,  in  olden  times! 

Thu&,  I  have  shown,  I  trust,  to  the  American  community,  that,  at  the  rise  of  what, 
Rev.  Fathers,  j'-ou  affect  to  call  the  Roman  catholic  hierarchy, — conversion  had  become 
a  very  different  thing  from  what  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  holy  apostles  of  our  Lord. 
In  their  days  it  was  a  devout  and  holy  "turning  from  idols,  to  serve  the  living  God." 
But  in  the  early  popes'  days,  it  was  a  conversion  from  Christianity  to  the  service  of  an 
innumerable  rabble  of  saim-gods  !  The  Romish  christians  so  called,  to  use  the  words 
of  McGavin:  "instead  of  converting  heathen  to  the  faith,  icere,  by  the  influence  of  the 
Intter,  turned  from  the  faith,  and  converted  to  heathenism  P'  "In  point  of  fact,"  adds 
he  truly,  "idolatry  is  as  palpable  at  Rome,  at  this  day,  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Nero!" 

I  am,  Rev.  Fathers,  yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXII. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,    AND    THE    LORDS   BISHOPS    OF    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Picture  of  the  Mass. 

"^l^'dovs   Y^^^'''^^   a^iovs  Kai  SaKfVcov. 
Mummery  worthy  of  laughter,  and  of  tears!" 

Ar,iphUockius. 

Reverend  Fathers  : — In  my  last,  I  traced  the  origin  of  your  chief  tenets,  from 
prirfanism.  The  least  degree  of  acquaintance,  with  your  system,  and  with  the  reli- 
gion of  Greece  and  Rome,  will  satisfy  any  man  of  the  correctness  of  my  positions. 

I  propose  as  a  kind  of  appendix  to  this  inquiry,  to  give  a  picture  of  a  High  Mass,  in 
PontifcGlibus  ;  and  our  readers  will  be  the  better  enabled  to  judge  whether  the  show 
be  christianlike,  or  pagan,  in  its  every  feature:  or,  rather,  whether  it  does  not  actually 
out-pagan  every  si)ecies  of  paganism ! 

"•  Speotatum  admissi,  risum  tcneatis.  aniici  ?" 

The  Mass  includes  almo-t  the  whole  oi  the  Roman  catholic  worship.  Its  inventors 
have  lavished  their  genius  in  the  device  of  the  most  singular  antic  gestures ;  and  an 
endless  routine  of  cerem-onies  !  Henoe  going  to  Mass  include?  nearly  all  a  Roman 
cathoUc's  religion,  and  piety.  It  is  the  grand  test  of  discipleship ;  and,  the  evidence 
of  wearing  "The  mark  of  the  beast  in  the  face,  and  in  the  hands  !" 

Now,  were  we  to  view  the  Mass  as  a  comparatively  innocent  innovation,  a  mere 


ROMAN  CATHOUC  CONTROVERSY.  269* 

idle  ceremony,  a  show  to  gratify  overgrown  boys  and  girls,  we  should  not  here  notice 
it.  But  it  is  that  which  you.  Reverend  Fathers,  have  substituted  for  the  one  only  and 
perfect  atonement  of  Christ.'  It  is  a  damning  innovation,  in  as  much  as  it  is  the 
substitute  of  our  Blessed  Medeemefs  perfect  righteousness!  It  takes  the  entire  place 
of  the  one  and  only  blessed  Savior.  And  it  excludes  "his  finished  work  of  satisfac- 
tion on  the  cross,"  as  cora])letely  as  does  the  Koran  of  Mohammed  exclude  our 
Lord  from  the  mosque !  And  our  proof  of  this  strong  assertion  is  this : — The  Mass  as 
you  solemnly  profess  it  to  be,  is,  '"  the  offering  up  of  a  sacrifice  of  human  flesh  and 
human  blood,  for  the  sins  of  the  quick,  and  the  dead  to  pacify  God?" 

And  this  substitute  of  our  Redeemer's  atonement  is  not  only  an  anti-christian  idola- 
try, and  superstition,  as  we  have  in  former  Letters  shown : — ii  is  a  curious  show,  at 
which  grave  christians  cannot  but  smile.  And  tiius  it  exmbits  "  a  mummery  worthy 
of  laughter,  and  of  tears  !" 

The  Mass,  as  viewed  by  a  s])ectator,  seems  to  consist  of  five  divisions.  The  frst 
we  may  call  the  robing  of  the  bishop  in  his  poniifcais, — which  musi:  afibivl  a  highly 
intcllectu-al,  and  a  purely  spiritual  feast  of  soul,  to  the  spectators, — worshippers,  sliall 
I  call  them  ? 

The  bishop  enters  the  chapel  in  a  woolen  pontifical  cope,  which  has  its  tail  borne  up 
by  a  chaplain:  and  going  to  the  altar.,  he  kneels  down  and  says  the  "introibo, — I 
will  go  in,  &c."  He  then  walks  to  the  place  where  the  Paramenia  (or  robes  and 
ornaments)  are  laid,  and  seats  himself;  surrounded  by  the  proper  quota  of  chaplains 
and  deacons;  one  of  whom  acts  as  his  prompter,  to  tell  him  what  to  say:  and  to 
point,  with  his  finger,  to  the  place  in  the  book  where  he  is  to  read.  Near  them,  lie 
the  various,  solemn  paraphernalia,  and  sacred  vessels. 

The  attendants  having  duly  put  on  their  sanctified  copes  and  surplices,  the  bishop 
rises,  and  turning  towards  the  altar,  says  the  Lord's  prayer  secretly.  Then  crossing 
himself  from  his  brow  to  his  breast,  he  says,  "  God  be  my  helper,  &c."  And  whil 
the  choir  responds,  he  turns  towards  the  altar,  between  two  bearers  of  wax  candles, 
and  says,  "  the  Lord  be  with  you,  &c.,  and  other  prayers.  Then  gravely  laying 
aside  his  pluvial,  or  cope,  he  takes  the  ornament  called  his  planet,  approaches  the  altar, 
and  sits  down,  while  the  psalm  of  the  hours  is  being  sung.  During  the  dnging,  the 
holy  sandals  are  brought  out :  one  deacon  lifts  up  the  corner  of  his  cope,  while  another 
lake^i  off  the  holy  man's  shoes  :  then  uttering  certain  prayers,  he  at  last  says,  "  Shoe 
me  with  the  sandals  of  gladness!"  And  the  dutiful  deacon  then  puts  on  the  conse- 
crated sandals.     And  so  he  answers  this  fervent  prayer  ! 

Then  standing  up,  he  says,  "  O  Lord,  strip  the  old  man  offmc  !"  The  scutifervs, 
or  shield  bearer,  answers  this  prayer,  by  stripping  him  of  his  flowing  cope.  Then 
looking  on  his  hands,  he  says,  "  O  Lord,  give  virtue  to  my  hands!"  This  grace  is  an^ 
swered  by  another  deacon  bringing  a  basin  and  water  to  wash  his  hands,  while  he  sits. 
The  towel  and  basin  are  held  by  the  most  honorable  and  exalted  layman,  who  throws, 
himself  on  his  knees,  and  pouring  out  a  little  water  into  the  basin,  he  sips  and  tastes, 
it.  Meantime  another  of  the  ghostly  menials  is  taking  ofi'llie  holy  consecrat'  •!  rings, 
from  the  bishop's  fingers ;  and  then  the  distinguished  layman,  rendered  in  mcrtnl  by 
this  honor  allowed  him»  with  the  aid  of  a  deacon,  washes  the  saintly  bishop's  hands^ 
dries  them,  and  carries  back  the  basin  and  towel  to  the  credentia. 

Thus  the  bishop's  feet  being  shod  with  the  gospel  preparation,  by  the  pious  act  oT 
putting  on  sandals  ;  and  the  old  man  being  put  of,  by  devoutly  pulling  off  his  old 
woolen  cope;  and  having  washed  his  hands  in  virtue  and  innocence,  by  getting  fft«v> 

{i4« 


Z/i)-  ROMA?f    CATHOLIC    C0.NTR0TER3T. 

2vashcd  in  water, — he  approaches  the  rebes,  and  prays  :  *'  O  Lord,  put  on  me  the 
helmet  of  salvation,  &c."  At  this  signal,  the  paramenta,  or  robes  and  ornaments  are 
all  brought  forward,,  with  sanctimonious  bowing  and  grimace, — ffteen  in  number. 
The  bi«:hop  approaches,,  bows,  and  kisses  five  of  them, — namely,  the  amictus,  the 
p^ctoril,  and  the  cross,  the  stole,  and  the  -pall.  All  these  the  deacons  receive  from 
the  chaplains,  one  by  one,  and  put  upon  the  bishop. 

And,  first,  with  edifying  solemnity,  they  take  the  Amictus,  and  having  all  kissed  it, 
ihcy  put  it  over  the  bishop's  heatl,  and  fix  it  on  him.  His'  head  being  thus  armed 
with  Me  shield  of  salvation,  he  stands  up  and  prays:  "  O  Lord,  clothe  me  in  white, 
&c."  Upon  this  they  put  on  tlie  white  surplice.  Then  he  utters  another  prayer,  while 
all  the  people  look  on  him  with  wonderful  ])iety  and  edification,  saying,  "  O  Lord, 
gird  me  with  the  girdle  of  faith,  «Scc.  On  this,  in  answer  to  his  devout  prayer,  the 
ghostly  menials  take  his  girdle,  and  place  it  round  his  holy  corpo7«fjon,  and  buckle  it 
in  front.  Then  addressing  the  cross,  the  bishop  thus  prays, — "Deign,  O  Lord,  to 
fortify  me,  &c."  On  this  the  deacon,  in  the  due  exercise  of  his  sacred  functions,  takes 
the  cross,  and  holding  it  up  to  the  bishop  to  be  kissed,  hangs  it  round  his  neck,  so  as  to 
make  it  rest  on  his  holi/  breast. 

Next,  the  bishop  in  following  up  his  devotions,  sa\-s  to  the£tole,  "O  Lord,  give  me 
the  robe  of  immortality,  &c."  The  deacon,  whose  office  it  is  to  answer  this  prayer,, 
now  puts  on  the  robe,  nicely  adjusting  it,,  as  any  mantua  maker's  maid  would  do,  on 
his  sacred  person.  Next,.tl4e  saintly  man  pram's, — as  he  looks  on  the  tmiicella,  or  little- 
coat,. — -'Put  me  in  the  coat  of  jocundity,  and  clothe  me,  O  Lord,  with  the  garment 
cf  joy,: — tunica  jucunditatis,  &c."  Here  they  put  it  on  hire,  fitting  it  with  mantua~ 
maker  like  exactness,  to  his  holy  neck,  and  holy  hands.  He  next  prays, — "  O  Lord, 
clothe  me  with  the  garment  of  salvation,  &c."  Here  they  ])Uton  liim  thedalmatick, 
or  episcopal  vestment,  with  tasteful  niceness.  The  holy  man  next  fixes  his  devout 
eyes  on  the  gloves,  and  prays, — ''Circumda  manus,  Domine,"  &c.  Clothe  my 
hands,  O  Lord,  with  the  purity  of  the  new  man,"  &c.  On  thi.s,  the  deacon,  whose 
ofRce  it  is  to  answer  all  these  devout  prayers,  first  kisses  liis  right  hand,  and  puts  a 
glove  on  it,  then  k!«:ses  the  left,  and  puts  a  glove  on  that;  and  so  he  clothes  his  hands, 
with  lieavenly  purity ! 

This  being  over,  the  bishop  prays  another  new  prayer,  saying,  "  O  Lord,  thy  yoke 
is  eas3',"  &:c.  On  this,  the  spiritual  menials  who  are  illuminating  the  congregation 
by  all  this  sublime  play,  take  the  bishop's  ornament  called  ''the  planet,'^  and  put  it 
on,  bringing  it  back,  so  as  to  give  his  arms  free  exercise.  The  pall  is  next  brought ; 
the  deacon  takes  hold  of  it  by  the  cross  an  the  right  side  :  and  the  sub-deacon  by  the 
cross  on  tlie  left  side,  and'  hold  forth  the  cross  in  the  middle,  that  the  bishop  may  kiss^ 
it:  tnen,  while  he  mumbles  a  juayer  or  two,  they  put  it  round  his  neck,  making  part 
of  it  on  the  left  ehoulder  to  lie  double:  and  the  whole  is  so  tastefully,  and  so  tailor- 
like  put  round  bis  neck,  that  his  arms  are  not  hindered. 

Then  comes  the  putting  on  of  the  three  thorns  with  their  jewels.  This,  none  but 
the  sanctified  and  initiated  can  well  describe;  ihejirct  thorn  goes  into  the  breast  of 
the  pall:  tlie  second  into  the  cross  on  his  left  shoulder:  and  the  third  iuio  the  cross 
behind.  And  these  thorns,  by  the  orthodox  dressing,  must  not  go  quite  through  the 
cross !     It  is  a  matter  of  deep  concern  to  be  orthodox  here  I 

After  this,  the  bishop,  speaking  io  the  mitre,  says  in  way  of  prayer — -'Mitram, 
Domine,  &c.  Put  on  me,  O  Lord,  the  mitre,  and  the  helmet  of  salvation,"  &l,o. 
Here  ho  sits  down  :  and  the  dutiful  and  busy  deacon  devoutly  puts  the  mitre  on  the 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  271 

bishop's  head;  the  sub-deacon  as  devoutly  holding  up  the  glaring  baubles,  and  rib- 
bons that  hang  from  it.  The  bishop  sitting,  prays,  '•  Decora  cordis,  &c.  Decorate 
with  virtue,  O  Lord,  the  fingers  of  my  heart,  and  body,"  &c.  Here  the  deacons,  in 
consummating  his  devout  prayer,  put  the  rings  on  his  fingers.  Next,  the  grtmial,  a 
rich  piece  of  silk  held  by  two  priests,  between  the  bishop,  and  the  people,  when  he 
says  the  ma^s,  is  laid  on  his  lap.  This  done,  he  prays  to  the  manipulum,  or  the  cloth 
which  is  on  the  left  arm,  at  mass — saying, — "Merear,  &c.  May  I  be  worthy,  I  pray 
O  Lord,  to  carrN'  the  manipulum,  with  a  mournful  spirit,"  &c.  Upon  this,  the  said 
cloth  is  put  across  his  arm. 

At  this  stage  of  the  sanctimonious  manoeuvre,  the  incense  is  prepared  in  the  proper 
vessel,  with  about  one  dozen  gesticulations,  and  contortions.  Then  with  a  nicely  ar- 
ranged procession,  the  bishop  comes  to  the  steps  of  the  altar,  and  makes  a  full  halt- 
Here  the  deacon  takes  oflT  his  mitre,  and  religiously  combs  back,  and  smoothes  down 
his  hair.  Then  follows  the  confessiori  of  each  of  this  holy  confraternity.  The  bishop' 
bowing  reverentially  to  the  altar,  begins  the  confession  of  his  sins.  The  deacon  kiss- 
ing the  bishop's  left  hand,  goes  up  to  the  altar,  with  the  manipulum,  and  the  gospel 
open  in  his  right  hand.  The  bishop  next,  with  suitable  prayers,  goes  up  to  the  altar, 
and  kisses  it  with  deep  solemnity,  and  also  the  book  of  the  gospels.  Having  next  ap- 
proached the  horn  of  the  epistle,  he  takes  the  incense  pot,  puts  incense  into  it,  and 
causes  the  cloud  of  smoke  to  cover  the  altar.  And  this  religious,  and  very  edifying^ 
service  is  done  thus  : — having  adored,  with  profound  reverence,  the  image  on  the  cross,  - 
he  whirls  the  pot  of  incense  three  times  round  it :  then  he  whirls  the  pot  tiirice  round 
the  image,  and  sacred  relics,  on  the  right :  and  then  around  those  on  the  left,  as  often. 
Next  he  gives  three  holy  swingings  of  the  pot,  round  the  image  and  relics,  near  the 
corner  of  the  epistle  :  and  as  many  he  gives  to  the  horn  of  the  gospel.  He  then  delivers 
the  pot  to  the  deacon,  who  swings  it  round  the  bishop  himself,  and  smokes  him 
efic'ctually  ! 

After  a  number  of  other  edifying  gestures,  and  molions,  the  bishop  is  lifted  up  by 
the  arms,  as  if  he  were  suddenly  become  paralytic  ;  and  being  on  his  legs,  he  as  sud- 
denly gels  well.  And  standing  sturdily  on  his  legs,  he  says  the  "  Gloria  Deo,  Glory 
to  God,^^  &c.,  taking  care,  in  the  most  orthodox  manner,  to  join  his  hands  on  his  breast, 
at  the  word,  God.  While  the  choir  sings  a  hymn,  he  has  his  mitre  and  gremial  brought 
to  him  :  they  are  again  taken  off  him,  as  the  hymn  ends.  He  is  again  helped  on  his 
legs  by  the  activity  of  the  sturdy  deacons;  and  he  cries  out  to  the  people, — ''Pax 
vohis,  Peace  le  unto  yon  ;"  and  he  keeps  his  hands  before  his  breast,  until  the  edified 
and  devout  audience  rcj)ly,  ''^  And  with  thy  spirit/^  He  then  says,  "  Let  us  pray," 
and  then  he  goes  on  with  his  prayer  in  Latin,  to  console  and  edify  those  who  do  not 
imdcrstand  a  single  word  of  the  mtimmery  ! 

After  an  incredible  number  of  similar  gestures,  the  burning  of  incense,  and  kiss- 
ing of  the  bishop's  hands,  and  bowing,  and  reading  what  they  call  the  gospel,  and 
after  the  bishop  has  been  again  perfumed  with  incense  smoke,  and  has  stood  up  without 
mitre  and  gremial, — he  sits  down  to  listen  to  a  sermon.  The  preacher,  now,  comes- 
np,  and  on  his  knees  adores  the  bishop,  kisses  his  hand,  and  asks  his  blessing.  This- 
he  freely  gives  by  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  him.  That  finished,  with  much 
gesture  and  bowing,  the  preacher  gives  the  bishop  his  absolution,  &c.,  Sec. 

Second:  Tiie  bishop  or  priest  sings  five  psalms  :  then  uncovers,  combs  down  hia 
hair,  and  washes  his  hands.  Next  comes  the  sprinkling  of  holy  waters  and  singing 
the  introitus,  as  the  bishop  approaches  the  altar.     After  a  great  many  gestures,  agaia 


272  nOMAIT     CATHOLIC    CO.tTROVERST* 

airoitly  performsd,  there  is  much  chaunting.  A  linen  cloth  full  of  pictures  is  carried" 
as  a  canopy  over  the  bishop,  by  four  sturdy  ecclesiastics.  Here  again  follow  incense,, 
and  chaunting.  There  is  the  gradual,  and  the  hallelujah  :  and  the  tractus, — so  called 
from  the  long,  drawling  tone,  and  nasal  twanging  of  the  priests  affecting  much  sorrow, 
as  they  sing  it. 

The  third  partis  ike  constcration,  more  properly  so  called.  The  gestures,  and  par- 
ticularly the  bowings,  and  adoration  here  are  not  easily  recounted.  The  sub-deacon 
puts  on  a  long  veil ;  takes  the  patiyi  with  two  choice  hosts,  or  wafers,  and  the  chalice ; 
and  coverin/them  with  the  veil,  goes  up  with  them  to  the  altar,  following  the  bishop. 
Another  brings  the  wine  and  water.  The  bishop  now  puts  on  his  ejAscoyal  ring  and 
mitre,  and  couaes  to  the  altar.  At  the  altar,  his  mitre  is  taken  off;  and  he  adores  with 
lowly  bowing  to  the  altar.  The  deacon  now  takes  one  of  the  hosts,  and  touching  the 
vatin  and  chalice  with  it,  inside  and  outside»  makes  the  sub-deacon  taste  of  it.  The 
other  host  he  offers  to  the  bishop,  who  takes  it  with  both  hands,  and  holding  it  up 
before  his  breast,  repeats  the  prayer,  "  O  Lord  accept  it,"  &c.  This  is  called  the 
Offertory,  fromits  being  offered  to  God;  and  from  the  people's  making  an  offering  of 
gifts  to  the  priests. 

The  priest  before  he  offeio  the  host  washes  hl^  hand?  a  second  time.  In  the  interim, 
the  deacon  throws  over  the  altar  a  clean  linea  cloth  called  corporale,  or  palla,  because 
they  say,  it  covers  Christ's  body.  The  chalice  is  also  covered  with  another  palla,  or 
corporale.  The  deacon  having  pres-nted  the  patina,  with  the  host  upon  it,  to  the 
bishop,  also  presents  the  ?u..lice,  iu  vv hich  the  priest  mbces  wine,  and  water,  and  con- 
secrates it.  In  the  consecration,  the  water  only  is  blessed  by  the  priest  when  mixed, 
not  the  wine,  because  the  wine  they  say,  represents  Christ,  who  needs  no  blessing. 
The  host  is  placed  on  the  altar,  between  the  chalice  and  the  priest,  to  intimate  that 
Christ  is  mediator  between  God,  (v^-ho,  they  say,  is  represented  by  the  priest,)  and  the 
people,  which  the  water  in  the  cho.lice,  as  they  say,  represents.  The  priest  agfJ a 
perfumes  the  altar  and  sacrifice,  three  times  in  ibe  manner  of  a  cross;  bows  :  iriself, 
and  kisses  the  altar,  and  repeats  very  softly  the  prayer  which  they  call  secreia  ;  rtiough 
this  prayer  Is  said  in  silence,  yet  the  conclusion  of  it  is  uttered  with  a  loud  voice  Per 
omnia  secula  seculorum.  Then  follows  what  ihey  call  prafatio,  which  begins  AWth 
thanksgiving,  and  ends  with  the  confession  of  God's  majesty.  The  minds  of  the  people 
are  prepared  v%  irh  these  words,  Lift  up  your  hearts.  The  answer  to  v.-hich  is,  ff'e 
lift  ikizm  up  unto  the  Lord.  Then  is  sung  the  hymn,  Holy,  holy,  holy.  Lord  God, 
&c.  Heaven  and  earth  is  full  of  thy  glory.  Then  follows  the  hymn  Hosanna,  and 
next  the  canon,  v/hich  is  also  called  Actio,  (because  it  is  a  giving  of  thanks)  which 
is  uttered  with  a  loud  voice.  The  canon,  besides  thanksgiving,  consists  of  various 
prayers  for  the  pope,  cardinals,  bishops,  kings,  all  orthodox  christians,  gentiles,  Jews,- 
&c.  These,  also,  are  particularly  remembered  for  whom  the  sacrifice  is  to  beoffered,. 
and  their  names  rehearsed.  Prayer  is  also  mL  3  for  those  that  are  present  at  mass ; 
and  for  the  bishop  himself.  Then  mention  is  made  of  the  Virgin,  the  apostles,  evan- 
gelists, and  martyrs.  Next,  after  many  crossings,  follows  the  solemnity  of  the  conse- 
cration of  the  host,  by  the  pronouncing  aloud  these  words,  ''Hoc est  corpus  meum:'' 
This  is  my  body  ;  to  which  the  people  answer,  Amen.  The  priest  now  falls  dov/n  on 
his  knees  before  the  consecrated  host,  and  worships  it,  offers  prayers  to  it,  and,  rising 
.  «p,  he  elevates  it,  that  it  may  be  adored  by  the  people.  Then  after  seven  several 
croisings  of  the /losf,  and  chalice,  this  part  of  the  mass  is  concluded  with  prayers  for  the 


ROMAN  CATaOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  273 

dead,  and  the  people's  ofTerings  of  money  to  the  priest,  as  a  reward  for  his  prayers  in 
behalf  of  their  dead  friends,  for  their  delivery  out  of  purgatory. 

The  fourth  part  of  the  mass  begins  with  the  pater  nosttr,  and  some  other  prayers. 
The  sub-deacon  delivers  fhe  patina  covered  to  the  deacon,  who  uncovers  ii,  and  de- 
livers it  to  the  priest,  and  kisses  his  right  hand.  The  priest  kisses  the  patina,  hreak» 
the  host  over  the  chalice,  and  puts  a  piece  of  it  in  the  wine,  to  show  that  Christ's 
body  v/as  not  \vithout  blood.  Then  the  bishop  pronounceth  a  solemn  berjediction. 
Next  is  iung  the  hymn  Ague  Dei,  that  is,  O  Lamb  of  God,  that  taJcest  away  the  sin 
of  the  world.  Then  the  kiss  of  peacie  is  given,  according,  as  they  aiiege,  to  the 
aposrle's  commands,  Salute  one  another  with  an  holy  kiss. 

Tiieffth,  and  last  part  of  the  mass,  contains  their  communion.  The  priest,  or 
bishop  communicates  first  himself.  He  takes  the  one  half  of  the  host  for  himself, 
the  other  half  he  divides  into  two  parts,  the  one  for  the  deacon,  the  other  for  the  sub- 
deacon.  Next,  the  clergy,  and  monks  communicate;  and  after  them,  the  people; 
but  they  have  only  the  consecrated  wafer  allowed  them,  and  put  m  their  mouths,  the 
cup  being  withheld  from  them,  and  drunk  by  the  priests,  or  clergj'  alone.  The  priest 
holds  the  chalice  with  both  hands,  and  drinks  three  times,  pretending  thereby  to  signify 
the  Trinity!  The  whole  is  concluded  with  what  they  call  ]iost-cor.imunion,  which 
consists  in  thanksgiving,  and  singing  of  antiphonits.  The  priest  then  kisses  the  altar, 
and  removes  again  to  the  right  side  of  it,  where  having  uttered  some  prayers  for  the 
people,  and  blessed  them,  the  deacon  with  a  loud  voice,  cries,  "/^e,  missa  est,''  that  is^ 
"  Go  in  peace,  the  host  is  sent  to  God  the  Father,  to  pacify  his  anger."  See  StepK 
Durant  de  Rit.  Ecclesia?.  lunocentlll.  de  Mj^st,  Missfs.  Bernard. deOffic.  et  Gabriel. 
Bicl.  de  Canone  Missa?.  See  also  Dr.  M.  Geddes'  Works  on  Popery,  vol.  iv.  p. 
206,  &c. 

Such,  ch'islian  reader,  is  a  faint  outline  of  the  chief  parts  of  the  mass.  To  com- 
prehend the  imposing  puerility,  you  must  see  it.  I  repeat  nothing  ot  what  we  said  of 
its  idolatry,  and  outrageous  insult  offered,  by  it,  to  the  one  holy,  and  all  perfect  atone- 
ment of  our  blessed  Redeemer  !  I  now  speak  of  it  as  a  splendid  compound  of  impo- 
sition and  quackery,  and  childish  inventions,  played  off,  upon  an  ignorant,  gaping 
assemblv  by  large,  and  bearded  youths;  each  of  whom,  as  a  sophomore,  is  taught  to 
stru;.  his  boyish  parts  on  the  ecclesiastical  stage  of  the  consecrated  theatre  ;  and  to  go 
through  his  ghostly  pantomiine,  without  laughing  outright  I  And  who  are  each  of 
them  nearly  ready,  as  hopeful,  bearded  boys,  to  be  transferred  to  the  Jtntjordepartm.ent, 
to  studv  the  first  elements  of  logic,  and  common  sense;  and  con  over  the  primar^j 
parts  of  the  gospel  theology  I 

I  appeal,  from  you.  Reverend  Fathers,  to  the  enlightened,  and  Inghly  intelligent 
American  community.  And  I  beg  ihem  to  decide  whether  the  mass  be  not  wholly 
thp.  mventionof  Romish  priestcraft,  throwing  completely  into  the  shado,  all  the  idol- 
atry, superstition,  and  ghostly  manipulation  ever  known,  or  ever  heard  of,  in  Greek 
and  RoLiaii  paganism ! 

I  am,  Rev.  Fathers,  vours,  &e. 
VV.  C.  B. 


274  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CO.VTKOVERSr. 


LETTER  XXIII. 


TO    TUZ     LORD    ARCHBISHOP,    AND    THE     LORDS    BISHOPS     OF    THE     ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IV    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

On  the  Idolatry  and  Superstition  of  Poptry. 

'•  Confounded  be  all  they  that  serve  jraven  Image*;  that  boast  themselves  of  idols:  wor- 
ship Him,  all  ye  gods!"     Pb.  xc.  T. 

Reverend  Fathers  : — In  tFacing,  by  the  light  of  scripture  and  history,  the  true 
origin  of  your  church,  its  doctrines,  and  rites;  and  in  demonstrating  its  pagan  pater- 
nity, it  would  be  unpardonable  to  omit  the  most  striking  and  irresistable  demonstra- 
tion of  this,  set  glaringly  before  all  eyes,  in  its  idolatr}-^  and  superstition. 

Thert  is  a  six-fold  idolatry  which  I  charge  upon  you.  Fathers,  and  your  ehurch  of 
Rome.  And,  before  God,  and  the  enlightened  American  community,  I  offer  to  make 
good  this  charge.  First,  your  worshipping  o[ images.  Second,  your  worshipping  of 
saints.  Third,  your  worshipping  oi  relics.  Fourth,  your  worshipping  of  the  cross, — 
the  wood  of  the  cross.  Fifth,  your  worshipping  of  the  host,  or  the  consecrated  wafer. 
Sixth,  your  worshipping  of  the  sacrament,  under  the  name  of  St.  Sacrament.  Your 
Reverences  will,  of  course,  patiently  hear  me  on  each  of  these,  in  order. 

By  idolatry  is  meant  the  ascribing  of  divine  honor  of  latreia,  to  idols  and  other 
objects,  and  the  worshipping  of  God  by  images.  If  there  be  meaning  in  words,  this 
is  condemned  and  proliibitcd  by  the  law  of  God.  "  Thou  shall  not  make  unto  thee 
any  graven  image," — that  is,  as  all  admit,  for  religious  uses  and  worship.  "  Thou 
•halt  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them," — that  is,  in  adoration  offered  to  them,  or  hefor© 
them."  And,  Reverend  Fathers,  the  reason  is  obvious,  why  your  Trentine  council 
crowded  tiiis  precept  out ;  and  why  others  of  your  writers  cram  it  into  a  corner,  not, 
if  possible,  to  be  visible,  or  to  stand  out  openly,  as  a  commandment.  Hence  the  third 
commandment  is  your  second  one.  I  beg  leave  to  quote  other  passages  of  God's  law  : 
■'  Cursed  be  he  that  maketh  a  carved  image  ;  or  molten  image,  which  is  an  abom.i- 
nation  to  the  Lord, — and  setteth  it  up  in  a  secret  corner;  and  all  the  people  shall  say 
amen!"  Deut.  xxvii.  15.  This  doctrine  pervades  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament. 
And  even  your  own  Apocrypha  utters  the  following  words  on  your  ears :  '*  Cursed 
is  the  idol  that  is  made  with  hands,  yea,  both  it,  and  he  that  made  it."  Wisdom,  ch. 
xiii.  and  xiv.  In  the  conclasion,  the  author  of  this  portion  of  your  "sacred  canon," 
says  that  the  honoring  of  abominable  images  "is  the  cause,  the  beginning,  and  the 
end  of  all  evil ;  and  that  the  worshippers  of  them  are  either  mad,  or  most  wicked." 
And  you  cannot  be  ignorant,  Fathers,  that  this  same  "canonical  book"  of  your  church 
says, — "The  painting  of  the  picture,  and  the  carved  image  with  diverse  colors 
enticeth  the  ignorant,  so  that  he  lionoreth  and  loveth  the  picture  of  a  dead  image, 
that  hath  no  soul."  Now,  it  is  quite  manifest  that  this  sensible  writer  must  hare 
looked  often  in^o  a  pagan  temple: — if  not,  in  a  shrewd  vision,  into  a  Pepish  chapel, 
and  seen  the  paintings,  and  statues  of  the  worshipped  saints;  and  flaring,  party 
colored  robes  of  the  "adored  bishops  and  priests!"  He  adds  the  following  bold  and 
thundering  denunciation :  read  it.  Fathers,  and  let  all  your  flocks  read  it.  They  that 
love  such  evil  things,  they  that  trust  in  them,  they  that  make  them,  they  that  favor 
them,  they  that  honor  them, — "  Shall  feel  a  judgment  worthy  of  God,'' — even.^ex- 
treme  damnation  upon  them.''' — Wisdom,  ch.  xii.  26,  27,  and  xv.  4,  6. 


ROMAF  CATHOLIC  COKTROVZRST.  Mi D 

In  a  word,  it  is  the  one  grand,  pure,  and  simple  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  that  we 
"Should  worship  the  Lord  our  God  ;  and  serve  him  alone.'"  And  the  second  grand 
item  is  this. — Thou  shalt  not  make,  nor  use  paintings,  and  images,  to  worship  God 
by  them.  "  Take  good  heed,  for  ye  saw  no  manner  of  similitude  on  the  day  that  the 
Lord  spake  unto  you  in  Horeb; — "  lest  ye  corrupt  yourselves,  and  make  unto  you  a 
graven  image,  the  similitude  of  any  figure,  the  likeness  of  male,  or  female  ."*  Deut. 
iv.  15,  16. 

Reverend  Fathers,  is  it  possible  that  you  can  be  ignorant  of  these  passages  of  God's 
holy  word  ?  Can  bishops  possibly  be  so  ignorant,  as  not  to  know  that  Almighty  God 
has  uttered  this  against  the  pagans,  and  against  you,  their  too  faithful  descendants? 

Some  of  your  more  sober  writers  really  have  tried  to  defend  your  system  oHdolatnj. 
'■'We  do  not  worship  figures,  these  painted  eaints,  these  statues:  we  vvorship  God, 
through  them." 

How  deeply  you  are  dyed  in  paganism  !  This  was  exactly  what  the  heathen  said, 
— "We  do  not  worship  these  statues,  but  our  gods  through  them."  "But  I  beg  two 
replies  to  this  your  defence:  1st.  In  addressing  a  saint  through  his  statue,  it  is 
supremely  absurd  to  say  that  you  worship  God  through  that  statue.  You  pray ;  not 
to  God,  but  to  a  dead  man,  or  a  dead  woman!  In  praying  to,  and  adoring  a  dead 
man,  you  are  as  guilty  of  idolatry,  as  in  praying  to  a  stump  of  wood,  carved  into  a 
Madonna!  But,  2d.  God  has  prohibited  in  the  most  positive  terms,  the  use  of  images, 
in  his  pure  and  spiritual  worship.  He  has  not  only  said  :  "  Me  only  shalt  thou  wor- 
ship; and  have  no  other  God  before  me:"  but  be  has  also  uttered  the  most  solemn 
command  "  not  to  make  any  graven  image ;  nor  to  bow  down  to  it,  or  before"  it,  in  his 
worship. 

Ag-ain,  the  champions  of  your  renovated  paganism  say  "We  are  not  idolaters ;  wc 
distinguish  between  latreia,  and  douleia :  the  fi.rst,  and  highest  worship,  we  render  to 
God  only  :  the  latttr,  or  the  lower,  we  may,  and  do  apply  to  the  creature."  To  this 
we  reply,  that  these  iivo  words  are  used  reciprocally,  both  by  sacred  and  classic 
writers.  The  Hebrew  word,  to  serve  God,  is  rendered  sometimes  by  latreia,  and 
sometimes  by  douleia,  by  the  Seventy.  See  Exod.  iv.  23,  and  xxiii.  25.  In  theso 
texts  they  use  latreia  to  express  the  holiest  service  of  God.  In  Deut.  xiii.  4,  and 
many  other  places,  they  use  the  word  douleia  to  express  the  same  divine  servic«. 
And,  Rev.  Fathers,  if  you  will  look  into  Laurent.  Valla's  Annot.  in  ch.  iv.  of  Mat- 
tiiew,  you  will  perceive  that  he  proves  beyond  gainsayiug,  that  these  two  words  have 
no  difference  in  their  meaning,  and  application  to  divine  worship.  This  also  i« 
admitted  by  your  own  Nich.  Sarrar.  in  Litan.  2,  Quest.  27.  And  by  Mouline  de 
Novit.  Pap.  L.  vii.  cap.  13.  I  have  only  to  add  here  tJiat  St.  Augustine  is  considered 
the  one  who  first  cometZ  this  distinction,  where  no  diffl'rence  exists.  But  like  your- 
selves,— Fathers,  and  your  priests,  he  ivas  no  Greek  scholar,  as  he  himself  frankly 
confesses  in  tln^se  words;  "  Ego,  quid  Gra;C8e  linguae  perparum  assecutus  sum,et  prope 
nihil.''  Aug.  Cont.  Petit.  Lib.  ii.  cap.  28.  Cont.  Fau^t.  Lib.  xx.  cap.  2L  And  this 
is  not  all ;  that  good  Father  never  intended  the  distinction  now  used  in  the  popish 
sense.  He  actually  confesses  that  both  the  terms  belong  only  to  God :  "  The  one,— 
says  he — "  is  due  to  him,  as  our  Lord  ;  the  other  to  him,  as  our  God."  And  you  arc 
well  aware  that  St.  Paul,  in  describing  his  own  character  and  office,  calls  himself, 
doulos,  a  servant  of  Christ.  And  surely,  he  did  not  thereby  give  Christ  the  inferior 
worship. 

Farther,  to  establish  our  point  beyond  the  gainsaying  of  every  Roman  writer,  let  mc 


276  ROMA-V    CATHOLIC    CU>'TROrKRST. 

t3nly  say  that  when  the  devil  tempted  our  Lord,  it  was  not  the  higher  order  of  worship, 
the  latreia,  that  he  demanded  ;  nor  did  he  himself  pretend  to  be  God ;  he  would  have 
been  content  with  "a  little  religious  worship,  a  little  prostration;"  just  exactly  such 
as  you  exhibit  in  bowing  down  to  idols.  And  yet  Christ  says  to  him, — "  Get  thee 
behind  me,  Satan :  for  it  is  written,  thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him 
oidy  shalt  thou  serve."  You  need  not, — you  cannot  reply  to  this,  by  alledging  that 
it  was  the  devil  that  demanded  the  ivorship :  but  that  you  profess  to  demand  worship 
to  sainVs  itiiages.  To  this  I  reply,  by  reminding  you  of  St.  Paul's  words  in  1  Cor. 
X.19.  20,  that  what  "the  gentiles  sacrificed  to  their  idols,  they  sacrificed  to  devils.'" 
Your  idols,  Rev.  Fathers,  are  just  as  much  devils,  as  are  the  idols  of  the  Gentiles. 
And  if  Christ  refused  the  "  lower  worship,"  as  you  call  it,  to  the  devil ;  then  is  every 
christian  bound  to  refuse  your  "  lower  worship,"  to  your  newly  baptized  "-devils!'^ 
I  crave  pardon.  Rev.  Fathers,  if  I  have  not  spoken  in  plain  enough  and  sober  terms, 
to  you. 

The  more  grave  of  your  writers  nov  admit,  that  it  is  a  vile  species  of  idolatry  to 
make  images  of  God  ihe  Father,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  well  may  they  do  so. 
For  it  is  impossible  to  represent  in  visible  materials,  the  invisible  God.  Every  image 
of  this  nature,  does  represent  the  Deity  infinitely  different  from  what  he  is.  Hence 
these  images  are  designated  by  divine  inspiration,  "  a  lie."  For  they  utter  the  most 
glaring,  and  most  pernicious  FALSEHOOD,  that  can  possibly  be  conceived.  Rom.  i.  25. 
^'They  changed  the  truth  of  God,"  the  true  representation  of  the  infinite  and  omni- 
present one,  "  into  a  Zie,  and  worshipped,  and  served  the  creature,  more  than  the 
Creator." 

But  youinsiston  making,  and  adoring  images  of  Christ:  and  you  carry  this  into 
practice  to  such  an  extent,  that  these  images,  and  those  of  the  Madonna  and  the  child, 
are  as  numerous  in  your  chapels  as  the  Jupiters,  and  Venus,  with  her  Cupids,  were 
in  the  pagan  temples  of  old.  Now,  any  image  you  can  make  of  Christ,  must  exhibit 
an  imaginary  countenance,  and  features;  no  man,  or  church  on  earth,  has  retained 
his  true  likeness.  As  portraits,  or  statues  of  him,  therefore,  what  you  show  off',  are 
actually  mere  fictions;  mere  impositions;  and  they  are,  like  all  idols,  a  lie.  Besides, 
no  christian  in  his  sound  senses  ever  did,  or  ever  will  worship  the  manhood  of  Jesus 
Christ.  We  worship  him  exclusively,  and  only,  as  ''the  eternal  Son  of  God,^^  or 
"//te  Great  God  our  Savior,'^  And  in  this  character,  in  which  we  do  worship  him, 
no  image,  no  paintina",  no  similitude,  ever  can  be  made  of  him.  A  few  rude  materials 
of  straw  and  dust,  can  never  represent  the  invisible,  eternal,  and  omnipresent  Deity  ! 
To  worship  an  image  of  a  man,  which  you  are  pleased,  without  reason,  or  propriety, 
to  style  a  '*  Christ,"  is  the  grossest  idolatry !  And  according  to  the  above  argument, 
it  is  doubly  "a  lie."'  First,  as  to  his  manhood:  and  second,  as  to  his  Godhead! 
Hence  our  answer  to  your  vulgar  reason,  in  behalf  of  using  images, — namely,  that 
they  are  "picture  books,"—"  the  instructive  books,"  to  lead  and  guide  the  illiterate 
and  vulgar  into  truth : — "  and  that  they  exhibit,  at  one  view,  what  it  would  take  vol- 
umes to  express."  Yes  !  they  are  the  illiterate  man's  picture  books :  but  they  mis- 
lead, and  impose  on  him  most  scandalously.  They  are  the  infamous  tools  of  a 
reckless  pagan  priestcraft,  to  crush  intellect,  reason,  knowledge,  piety,  and  if  possible, 
the  pure  christian  religion!  Yes! — "They  are  the  books  of  the  unlearned."  And 
be  it  so  : — but  whoever  saw  a  man  in  his  senses,  fall  down,  and  worship,  and  pray 
to  ''his  books,''  out  of  which  he  was  reading ! 

I  beg  leave  to  extend  my  remarks  also  to  the  images  of  your  saints, — namely, 


ROMA>T     CATHOLIC    COMtROVERSt.  277 

fiedd  men,  and  dead  ivomen !  Do  you  pretend  to  worship  their  dead  bodies,  or  their 
living  S(juls  ?  Not  their  bones,  and  dust  surely  !  If  so,  avow  it  openly.  But  how 
can  you  pretend  to  make  an  image  of  a  soul,  now  in  heaven!  Do  you  believe  that 
these  rude,  material  images  represent  the  invisible  soul?  No!  Then,  surely,  they 
resemble  not  the  body  of  the  deceased:  for  you  have  lost  the  true  likejiess  of  St. 
Peter,  and  St.  Paul,  and  ten  thousand  others  of  your  adored  saints.  And  I  am  sure 
you  will  all  admit  that  these  images  represent  not  the  human  soul.  Here,  then  in 
both  cases  your  images  are  an  utter  "  lie !"  And,  of  course,  they  convey  to  the  minds 
of  your  illiterate,  and  degraded  victims,  the  very  falsest  impressions  which  can,  even 
by  Salan,  be  conveyed  to  mortals! 

•■  Image  worship,  and  image  use,  in  chapels  are,  therefore,  not  only  without  authority 
from  God's  law,  but  absolut'^'ly  against  the  very  spirit,  and  letter  of  it. 

The  man's  intellect  must  be  only  a  single,  visible  point  above  rationality,  who  can 
persuade  himself  (a  thing  which  none  of  you.  Fathers,  nor  any  rational  man,  in  the 
ranks  of  the  priesthood,  ever  for  a  moment  believed,)  that  St.  Peter,  or  the  Virgin, 
can  be  every  where  present,  to  hear  their  million  of  votaries!  How  can  the  saints,  I 
pray  you,  hear  a  million  of  diflerent  supplicants,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  at  the 
same  moment  I  If  they  cannot ;  and  if  they  need  to  be  told  by  God  that  such  a  one, 
is,  that  moment,  praying  to  them,  then  they  cannot,  without  God,  do  any  thing  for 
them!  Nay,  even  if  God  told  tbem,  they  could  not  listen,  or  attend  to  a  million  at 
once!  And  I  put  it  to  you,  if.  in  that  case,  it  be  not  infinitely  more  proper,  to  refer 
all  the  intercession  to  our  Lord  Jesus,  whose  infinite  merits  can  certainly  admit  of  no 
addition,  and  of  no  human,  or  angelic  help:  and  to  go  directly  to  God,  who 
only  can  hear,  and  loill  hear ;  and  can  help,  and  ivill  help,  those  who  come  unto 
him  through  Christ.  Why  seek  helpless  aid,  when  we  have  omnipotent  aid,  at 
hand! 

An  instructive  anecdote  is  recorded  in  the  history  of  the  ancient  house  of  Gordon. 
A  faithful,  old  tenant  had  got  into  ditficulties ;  and  could  not  pay  his  rent.  He  went, 
first,  to  the  under,  and  then  to  the  chief  factor.  They  spoke  roughly  to  him,  and 
would  make,  or  accept  of  no  compromise  :  the  loss  of  his  cattle,  and  the  failure  of  the 
crops,  were  nothing  to  them.  They  demanded  the  full  rent,  under  the  pain  of  being 
imprisoned,  and  all  his  goods  sold,  and  his  family  turned  out  of  doors.  In  his  cala- 
mity, he  resoh^ed,  in  despair,  to  make  his  way  to  the  Chief.  He  pressed  into  the  very 
presence  of  the  Duke,  and  implored  his  pity,  and  interposition.  His  grace  no  sooner 
heard  him,  than  he  kindly  offered  him  all  the  relief  he  solicited.  As  he  showed  him, 
on  his  de|)arture,  the  paintings,  and  statues  in  the  chapel  of  the  castle,  honest  John 
Gordon  asked  his  Chief  "  what  was  the  use  of  these  gaudy  figures  ?"  Now  the  Chief 
was  a  papl^t ;  and  he  reproved  John's  ignorance  very  heartily  ;  and  chid  him  for  not 
knowing  that  these  "were  St.  Peter,  and  St.  Paul,  and  the  Holy  Virgin."  *'Antl 
what  can  ye  possibly  do  \vi'  them  a'?"  cried  the  plain  Scottish  Protestant.  "Why, 
John,  I  pray  to  them  to  intercede  for  me  with  Christ,  and  his  Father!"  "Ah!  gude, 
my  Lord,  ye're  a'  wrong.  Saving  your  presence,  it  is  Htter  vanity,  and  worse!  Trust 
to  no  saint,  ray  Lord,  but  go  directly  to  God  himself,  our  Savior.  I  have  tried  it  just 
now :  these  small  fry  bring  no  aid  :  in  niy  own  case, — ye  see  it.  I  first  tried  little 
vSandy  Gordon;  anrl  I  tried  mcikle  Sandy  Gordon,  but  a'  would  na'  do:  but  when  I 
came  to  your  own  good  Lordship,  I  got  the  whole  desire  of  my  heart!  I  beg  you,  my 
Lord,  to  go  and  do  likewise."  And  the  honest  man's  well  timed,  common  sense  in- 
struction was  effectually   blessed.     The  family  record  says  that  his  Lordship  was 

25 


278  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

awakened,  and  finally  by  God's  grace  converted,   and  he  was  the  first  of  that  distin- 
guished long  line  of  that  noble  Protestant  family  of  Scotland. 

The  subject  of  images,  you  know,  Fathers,  has,  in  your  fierce  agitations,  absolutely 
deranged  the  unity  of  Holy  Mother  church.  You  cannot  be  ignorant  that  the  sen- 
timents of  your  sect,  are  of  the  most  opposite,  and  discordant  nature. 

There  are  three  conflicting  opinions  in  your  church ;  and  I  beg  leave  of  you  to  ask, 
to  which  of  the  three  factions,  in  your  Unity,  you  and  your  priests  belong?  Or,  are 
vou  as  much  distracted  on  this  point  of  idolatry',  in  these  States,  as  is  your  broken, 
and  distracted  sect  in  Europe  ? 

Bellarmine,  and  Juenin,  you  know,  divide  the  popish  system  on  this  topic,  into  the 
following  three  classes.  The  first  class  use  images,  but  do  not  worship  them.  That 
is,  they  allow  the  Romhh  superstition,  but  reject  the  idolatry  of  it.  According  to 
these,  the  image  has  neither  sanctity,  nor  power;  they  worship  the  holy  One  only 
before  the  presence  of  the  image.  "  They  honor  the  images  only  as  the  Jew  did  the 
Ark,  or  the  christian,  his  Bible."  This  marvellously  refined  superstition  character- 
ized the  system  of  popery,  as  held  out  before  Protestants.  It  was  professed  by  Bossuet, 
Juenin,  Gerson,  Dupin,  Challoner.  But  as  Edgar  observes,  "  they  were  prudent  in 
publishing  their  opinions  at  a  due,  and  respectful  distance  from  Spain,  Portugal,  Goa, 
and  the  Inquisition."  See  Bellarmine  on  this.  Lib.  ii.  20.,  Juenin,  Instit.  vol.  iv.  p. 
414.     Bassanus,  Edit.  1773.     And  Edgar's  Var.  p.  402. 

The  second  faction,  in  your  church,  patronize  both  the  idolatry  and  superstition  of 
Romanism.  They  offer  the  lower  worship,— the  douleia,  to  the  images  and  paini- 
ings.  This  faction  is  numerous.  It  boasts  of  Bellarmine,  Baronius,  Sanderus,  Estius, 
Godeau,  and  Spondanus.  This,  says  Bellarmine,  was  the  doctrine  of  the  Nicean  council. 
They  held  that  "  images  are  holy,  and  communicate  holiness  ?"  They  also  enacted  the 
curse  on  those  who  used  pictures  only,  to  assist  their  memory,  a?id  not  for  adoration! 
Bell.  Lib.  ii.  20.  21.  &c.  And  Labbeus  vol.  viii.  700.  The  council  of  Trent,  which  met 
after  the  Reformation,  professed  to  follow  the  Nicean  fathers.  But,  such  were  the  force 
of  lisht,  and  the  influence  of  literature  and  philosophy,  shining  on  them  from  heretics, 
that  the  Trentine  fathers  have  been  constrained  to  present  a  less  pagan,  and  a  more 
rational  view  of  the  subject,  than  that  of  the  Greek  council.  By  the  Trent  canons, 
the  "  worship  of  the  holy  images,"  is  made  to  dwindle  into  ''honor  and  veneration.''' 
Dupin  ii.  6.36.     Lab.  ii.  Tom.  xx.  p.  171. 

The  third  faction  in  your  church,  carry  out  their  theory  into  the  grossest  idolatry  of 
paganism.  They  give  the  same  worship  to  the  images  and  paintings  which  they 
give  to  the  originals  ;  that  is,  they  give  the  same  solemn  adoration  to  the  images  of 
God,  and  his  Son,  as  that  rendered  to  x\lmighty  God,  and  to  Christ  himself.  To  the 
imao-eof  Lady  Mary,  they  give  hyperdoulian,  or  intermediate  worship;  while  that  of 
the  saint  receives  inferior,  but  still  truly  divine  homage.  This  is  the  system  of  Aqui- 
nas, Cajetan,  Bonaventura,  Carthusian,  Turrecrema,  and  the  Schoolmen.  See  Bell. 
Lib.  ii.  20.     Aquin.  iii;  2.5.     Edgar,  p.  403. 

Pope  Adrian,  and  the  Nicean  council,  pretend  to  find  proof  of  this  very  gross  idol- 
atry, in  the  existence  of  the  cherubim  over  the  mercy  seat;  and  in  the  brazen  serpent. 
Is  it  not  amazing.  Fathers,  that  the  infallible  pope,  and  these  Greek  fathers  did  not 
happen  to  discover  that  these  were  neither  the  images  of  saints,  nor  the  objects  of 
worship  ?  The  cherubim  were  in  the  Most  Holy  place,  and  never  ivere  seen  by  the 
people.  x\nd  it  surely  did  not  require  very  profound  knowledge  of  the  Bible  to  disco- 
ver, that,  when  the  brazen  image  was  made  an  object  of  worship  by  some  besotted 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 


279 


Jews,  it  was  forthwith  dashed  into  fragments,  by  one  who  '» acted  rightly  in  the  sight 
o(  God."     2  Kings,  xviii.  4. 

I  am,  Rev.  Fathers,  vours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXIV. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,    AND    THE     LORDS    BISHOPS    OF    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

On  the  Idolatry  and  Superstition  of  Popery. 


"  With  crucifixes  hung, 

And  spells,  and  rosaries,  and  wooden  saints, 
Like  one  of  reason  reft,  he  journeyed  forth, 
In  show" 

Reverend  Fathers  :— With  your  permission,  I  shall  present  to  the  American 
community,  some  specimens  of  the  peculiar  and  gross  idolatry  of  the  Romish  church. 
And,  through  you,  I  beg  my  readers  to  be  assured  that  lam  giving  specimens  of  idola- 
try,—-not  of  the  dark  ages,— -but  of  such  as  has  been  perpetuated  from  antiquity  down 
to  our  time  : — of  idolatry  practised  in  our  land,  in  our  cities,  and  in  our  own  days,  as 
you,  Rev.  Fathers,  very  well  know.  And  you  can  assure  them  past  all  doubt,  on 
their  inquiries  made  of  j^ou,  that  all  I  speak  on  this  matter,  is  the  simple  unvar- 
nished truth:  that  it  is  all  exhibited  in  your  books;  sustained  by  your  ghostly  power, 
and  practised  at  your  bidding,  by  the  supple  priests,  and  minions  of  antichrist.  I 
have  spoken  of  your  idolatry  in  the  use  and  worship  of  images,  in  my  last.  I  prO' 
ceed  to  exhibit  your  idolatry  in  the  worship  of^  saints.     I  select  promiscuously. 

Thomas  a  Becket  is  an  illustrious  saint  in  your  calendar,  to  whom  you  pay  your 
worship.  So  great  was  his  saintship's  influence  in  heaven,  for  about  400  years,  that 
your  "  simple  faithful"  said  actually  more  prayers,  and  offered  more  gifts  to  him,  than 
even  to  Jesus  Christ  !  I  beg  to  repeat  what  I  formerly  had  occasion  to  quote  from 
bishop  Burnet,  that  "in  one  year,  there  was  offered  on  Christ's  altar,  in  his  church  at 
Canterbury,  about  £3;  on  the  Virgin's  altar,  about  £63;  and  on  Becket's  altar, 
upwards  of  £S32  I  Next  year,  the  amount  of  prayers  and  donations  stood  thus: — 
On  Christ's  altar, — nothing!  on  the  Virgin's  £4,  and  a  few  coppers:  on  Thomas  a 
Becket's,  upwards  of  £954!  !  Now,  here  is  a  specimen  of  the  prayers  which  your 
victims  offer  up  to  this  knave,  who  justly  fell  for  the  crime  of  high  treason  against 
his  lawful  sovereign ;  but  whom  you  make  an  inferior  g-oi/.  "May  this  communion, 
O  Lord,  cleanse  us  from  sin,  and  by  the  intercession  of  blessed  Thomas  a  Becket 
thy  martyr,  make  us  ellectual  partakers  of  this  heavenly  remedy."  Rom.  Catli. 
Missal  for  the  use  of  the  Laity,  p.  85.  Again :  Tu  per  Thoma?  sanguinem.  Sec.  Do 
thou  by  the  blood  of  St.  Thomas,  tvhich  he  spent  for  us, — quern  pro  nobis  impendit, 
grant  that  we  may  ascend  whither  he  has  ascended." 

In  Scotland,  in  A.  D.  1551,  it  was  taught  as  salutary  doctrine,  by  the  popish  priests 
and  prelates,  that  the  Lord's  prayer  be  uttered  in  devotion  to  the  saints.  See  Fox,  p. 
1274.  Willet,  p.  384.     To  this  day  you  utter  Pater  nosters  to  them ! 

Your  homage  to  saints  is  admirably  arranged.  Lucian  in  his  Dialogues  of  the 
heathen  gods,  introduces  the  god  Mercury  as  complaining  to  Jupiter,  with  a  ruefu^ 


280  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

countenance,  that  he  had  too  many  offices,  and  too  much  work  assigned  to  him  ;  thai, 
as  a  god,  he  was  killed  outright  with  work  and  toil !  Now,  you  have  been  more 
judicious  than  the  ancients:  you  select  a  potent  host  of  saint-gods;  and  hence 
none  of  them,  except  the  holy  Virgin,  has  got  loo  much  work.  St.  Dennis  takes  care 
of  France:  St.  James,  of  Sj)ain;  St.  George,  of  England  ;  St.  Andrew,  of  the  Scot- 
tish men  ;  St.  Patrick,  of  the  Irish;  St.  David,  of  the  Welch;  St.  Nicholas,  or  Santa 
Glaus,  besides  taking  care  of  the  sea,  watches  over  all  good  Dutchmen;  and  is,  more- 
over, the  patron  of  all  young  females,  who  wish  to  be  married  !  St.  Anthony,  the 
Abbot,  presides  over /re  and  inflammations  ;  hence  in  these,  and  in  fires,  you  rmpTore 
him,  "O  St.  Anthony,  graciously  defend  us  from  fire!"  St.  Anthony  of  Padua, 
again,  preserves  his  votaries  from  ivater, — "  O  holy  Anthony,  keep  us  from  drowning  !"' 
St.  Barbara  takes  charge  of  the  faithful  in  time  o^  thunder,  and  war, — "  O  holy  Bar- 
bara, pra}^  for  us  :  and  keep  us  from  thunder  and  war !"  St.  Blass  cures  all  disorders 
of  the  throat;  and  to  this  saint  you  have  recourse  when  hoarse,  or  laboring  under 
colds: — "  O  holy  St.  Blass,  pray  for  us,  and  cure  our  throats  I"  St.  Lucia  takes  care 
of  the  eyes:  and  all  those  who  want  to  have  good  ej-es,  or  diseased  ones  cured,  must 
pray  to  her:  "Merciful  and  kind  St.  Lucia,  pray  for  rae  and  cure  my  eyes!"  St. 
Agatha  cures  sore  breasts.  St.  Margaret  presides  over  midwives.  St.  Ramon, — 
nobody  can  tell  who  he  is, — ^but  on  the  ghostly  calendar,  he  is  declared  to  watch  over 
married  ladies  who  are  in  that  state  in  which  all  good  ladies  wish  to  be,  who  love  their 
husbands.  St.  Lazaro  is  bis  kind  assistant ;  for  he  takes  them  off  St.  Ramon's  hands, 
at  the  moment  when  their  labors  begin.  St.  Polonia  has  the  care  of  the  human  teeth  : 
and  all  who  have  the  tooth  ache,  or  who  want  good  teeth,  devoutly  adore  St.  Polonia  I 
St.  Domingo  cures /ei-ers:  St.  Roque  wards  off" f/iep/ag-i<e.'  See  Townsend's  Travels 
in  Spain,  vol.  iii.  p.  215;   Cramp,  p.  352. 

This  is  a  very  small  specimen;  but  you  have  saints  to  ])reside  over  all  diseases; 
and  over  all  cattle.  There  is  a  saint  solemnly  stationed,  you  know,  over  the  geese  and 
"pouUrij  ;  and  others  over  less  important  matters  and  animals  :  all  are  kindh^  provided 
for! 

In  some  instances,  our  Lord  is  represented  in  your  pra3'ers,  as  mediator  with  the 
saints,  to  obtain  from  them  what  their  votaries  ask.  For  instance,  under  the  name 
of  St.  Wenefride,  you  have  this  prayer  drawn  up  for  your  victims:  "O  blessed  St. 
Wenefride,  hear  the  prayers  and  receive  the  humble  supplications  of  thy  devout  pil- 
grims, and  obtain,  by  thy  pious  intercession,  that  God  will  be  pleased  to  grant  us  a 
full  pardon  and  remission  of  sins;  that  we  may  increase  and  persevere  in  God's  grace, 
and  enjoy  eternal  life  with  him  in  heaven.  This  tee  beg  of  thee,  O  blesred  Virgin, 
and  martyr,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.  Amen.''  Here  she  is  put  in  the  place  of  God, 
the  Father;  and  she  is  implored  to  grant  the  favor /or  Christ,  the  hittrcesfor's  sake  / 
This  is  copied  from  a  book  published  by  the  papists  in  Britain,  in  A.  D.  1817.  See 
Glasg.  Prot.  vol.  i.  chap.  47. 

The  following  is  the  prayer  used  at  the  consecration  of  images,  by  pope  Urban  VIII. 
taken  from  the  Roman  Rituale.  "Grant,  O  God,  that  whosoever,  before  this  image, 
shall  diligently  and  humbly,  on  his  knees,  worship  and  honor  thy  Son,  or  the  Virgin^ 
or  the  saint,"  (as  the  image  may  be,)  "  he  may  obtain,  by  his,  or  her,  or  their  merits 
and  intercession,  grace  in  this  life,  and  eternal  glory  in  the  next !"  Now,  we  ask  in 
the  words  of  an  eminent  writer,—^'  if  this  be  not  idolatry  of  the  grossest  nature,  let  the 
church  of  Rome  show  us  ivherein  the  worship  of  Jupiter  and  Apollo  ivas  idolatry.'' 
One  word  more  in  reference  to  the  common  band  of  all  the  saints;— each  of  them, 

I 


RQMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  281 

individually,  is  invoked  as  a  god:  and  the  Almighty  is  implored  for  the  sake  o{  their 
merits,  to  grant  all  blessings.  Here  is  a  specimen  of  the  whole,  or  All-Saints,  taken 
from  "  ihe  Roman  Missal,  for  the  use  of  the  laity,'"  London  edit.  1813.  "  Oramiis  te, 
tSce.  We  beseech  thee,  O  Lord,  by  the  merits  of  thy  saints,  whose  relics  are  here; 
and  of  all  of  the  saints,  that  thou  wouldst  vouchsafe  to  forgive  us  all  our  sins. 
Amen." 

The  Hoi  V  Virgin  is  your  great  goddess  and  queen  of  heaven!  The  following  is 
from  "  the  Hours  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,''  Paris  edit.  1553  ;  and  it  is  remarkable  only 
for  this,  that  pope  Sixtus  IV.  has  solemnly  granted  as  you  well  know,  11000  years 
pardon  of  sins  to  all  who  devoutly  say  it  before  her  image! — "Ave  Maria,  hail  most 
holy  Marv,  mother  of  God,  queen  of  heaven,  gate  of  paradise,  mistress  of  the  world," 
&c.  Again,  from  the  Roman  Breviary,  Sep.  8,  Lee.  6.  "Perte,  &c.  By  thee  we 
hope  for  the  jiardon  of  our  sins :  and  in  thee,  O  most  blessed  Lady,  is  the  expectation 
of  our  rewards."  The  following  I  copy  from  "  The  devotion  of  the  sacred  heart  of 
Christ,  with  the  devotion  of  the  sacred  heart  of  Mary.''  ]2tii  Lontion  edit.  1821. 
This  book  is  surpassed  in  authority,  with  you,  only  by  the  Missal. — For  Friday, — 
*' I  revere  vou,  O  holy  Virgin  Mary,  the  holy  ark  of  the  covenant;  and  with  all  the 
good  thoughts  of  all  good  men,  on  earth,  and  all  the  blessed  saints  in  glory,  do  bless^ 
and  praise  you  infnitely  ;  for  that  you  are  the  great  mediatrix  between  -  d  and  nan, 
obtaining  for  sinners,  all  they  can  ask,  and  demand  of  the  blessed  Trinity! 

Millions  of  such  prayers  arise  daily  from  the  baptized  paganism,  w  hich  you  are 
pleased  to  call  your  church.  And  yet,  after  all,  these  are  not  the  most  offensive,  or 
blasphemous.  I  appeal  to  the  pages  of  one  of  your  saints,  which  I  have  repeatedly 
quoted  ;  and  beg  leave,  again,  to  quote,  in  order  to  sustain  this  heavy  charge.  I  allude 
to  St.  Bonaventure,  whom  you  worship  on  the  14th  of  July, — a  day  sacred  to  his 
service. — "Jure  matris,  &c.  By  the  rights  of  a  mother,  order  thy  beloved  Son,  our 
Lord,  &c.  impera  filio  tuo,  &c."  Cor.  Beat.  V.  Tom.  6.  Roman  Edit.  1588. 
Aguin, — "  Ora  patrera,  jube  natinriy'r— "O  felix  puerpera,  <^c.  Pray  to  the  Father, 
command  thy  Son."  "  O  hapjiy  Mother  of  God,  atoning  for  our  crimes,  by  the  rights 
of  a  mother,  order  tliy  Son,  the  Redeemer, — uostra  pians  scclera,  jure  matris  impera 
Redernptori ! !"  I  have  thus  given  the  original,  that  all  may  judge  of  the  translation 
I  give.  See  Hist.  Sec.  Char.  August.  De  Com.  B.  Virg.  And  to  crown  the  climax 
of  the  most  shocking  and  revolting  idolatry,  compared  to  which,  that  of  Greece  and 
old  Rome  was  tame  and  moral, — for  they  never  placed  their  Venus,  or  Diana,  or  any 
female  deity,  above  their  Ju|)iler, — your  Saint  Bonaventure  has  written  "the  Psalter 
of  the  l^ady  Mary,"  in  which  he  hns  ndnpied  the  psalms  to  the  worship  of  Marv;  by 
insert inir  instead  of  Lord  and  Cod,  the  name  f)f  Mary,  and  our  Lady !  Here  is  a 
specimen  , — "  In  thee,  O  Lady,  do  1  put  my  trust;  let  me  never  be  confounded."  Ps. 
Ixviii.  opens  thus : — "  Let  our  Lady  arise,  let  her  enemies  be  scattered."  Psalm  xcv. 
thus  opens, — "O  come,  and  let  us  sing  unto  our  Lady  :  and  make  a  joyful  noise  unto 
the  Uiieen  of  our  salvation!"  One  instance  more  ;  the  1  lOth  Psalm  o})ens  thus,-^ 
"TIh!  Lord  said  unto  my  Lady,  sit  ihou  on  my  right  haiid,  until  I  ^nake  thine  ene- 
mies thy  footstool !" — And  yet.  Fathers,  you  gravely  call  yourselves  christians  !  Nay, 
you  allect  to  be  the  only  pure,  apostolic  church  !  "  O  judgment,  thou  hast  fled  to 
brutish  beasts;  and  men  have  lost  their  reason  !" 

But,  even  all  this  idolatry,  horrible  as  it  does  appear,  is  not  the  icorst !  You 
pay  adoration  to  the  relics  of  the  saints.  You  venerate  old  bones,  old  chains,  old 
garmillis,  and  the  coals  which  burned  certain  suiiits!     Yes!  to  u^e  the  words  of 

23* 


282  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    COIfTROVERST. 

bishop  Hall,  Works,  folio,  p.  630,  who  quotes  the  idea  out  of  Erasmus,  you  havo 
among  your  worshipped  relics,  "St.  Francis'  cowl;  St.  Anna's  comb;  St.  Thomas' 
shoes;  St.  Joseph's  breeches;  and  a  piece  of  the  Virgin  Mary's  green  petticoat!" 
These  you  devoutly  venerate  !  Verily  "  to  be  grave  defies  all  length  of  face !"  You 
religiously  venerate,  in  certain  of  your  churches,  in  Europe,  to  this  day,  says  bishop 
Hall,  St.  Martin's  boots:  St.  George's  scabbard:  St.  Crispin's  paring  knife;  ^he 
parings  of  vSt.  Anthony's  toe  nails  ;  and  the  tail  of  the  ass  which  carried  our  Lord  ! 
In  France  they  have /owr  heads  of  St.  John;  and  in  Rome,  says  Dr.  M'Culloch, 
Jive  pilgrims  arrived  with  a  budget  of  relics,  for  the  faithful :  among  which  each  of 
them  had  afoot  of  the  <iss,  which  carried  our  Lord  into  Jerusalem!  Popery  Con- 
demned, vol.  i. 

But  the  cross,  even  the  wood  of  the  cross,  is  in  great  request  among  you.  No  chapel 
is  thoroughly  consecrated,  unless  it  have  a  bit  of  the  holy  timber. 

Now,  I  particularly  beg  your  attention  to  two  things  relative  to  this  affair.  1.  You 
adore  the  loooden  cross  itself  2.  You  render  it  not  the  inferior,  but  the  superior  ado- 
ration ;  that  is,  latria  :  which  is  precisely  the  same  as  that  which,  you  sclmit,  dees 
belong  to  Almighty  God.  This  doctrine  is  sustained  by  the  highest  authority  of  your 
church.  St.  Thomas  i\quinas  says, — "If  we  speak  of  the  very  cross,  on  which 
Christ  was  crucified,  it  is  to  be  worshipped  with  divine  worship,  &c.  "  Wt  both  speak 
to  the  cross,  and  pray  to  it,  as  if  it  ivere  Christ  crucified  on  it:'  P.  3.  Qu.  25. 
Art.  4. 

"  The  Roman  Pontifical,  revised  and  published  at  Rome,''  in  1595,  by  order  of  pope 
Clement  V^IIL,  contains  "the  order  for  the  processional  reception  of  the  Em],eror." 
Here  are  the  words  I  allude  to ;— "  CruK  legati.  &lc.  The  cross  of  the  legate,  because 
latria  is  due  to  it,  shall  be  on  the  right  hand;  and  the  sword  of  the  Emperor  on  his 
left."     Folio  copy,  p.  672.  Finch,  p.  289. 

The  following  are  the  prayers  oflered  up  to  the  ivooden  cross: — "O  crux,  &c.  O 
cross,  only  hope  !  hail !  In  this  glory  of  thy  triumph,  give  an  increase  of  grace  to 
the  pious  ;  and  blot  out  the  crimes  of  the  guilty."  "Exalt,  of  the  cross,  Sept.  14." 
Again,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Andrew,  Nov.  30.  you  teach  your  deluded  victims  thus  to 
pray, — "  O  bona  crux,  &c.  O  good  cross,  who  hast  obtained  comehness  and  beauty 
from  the  Lord's  limbs,  receive  me  from  men,  and  restore  me  to  my  Master."  And 
this  adoration  of  the  cross  may  be  seen  in  our  cities,  on  Saturday  in  Passion  week. 
The  priest  uncovering  the  cross,  says,  "  Ecce  lignum,  «Scc.  Behold  the  wood  of  the 
€ross  !"  Then  the  chorus  sing  out,  "  Come  let  us  adore  !"  And  all  fall  down  and 
adore  the  wooden  cross  !  In  another  part  of  the  ceremony,  he  proceeds  to  the  middle 
of  the  altar,  and  uncovers  the  cross  totally,  as  he  cries  aloud, — "  Ecce  lignum,  &c. 
behold  the  ivood  of  the  cross,  on  ivhich  the  salvation  of  the  ivorld  hangs!  Come  let  us 
ndore  .'"  Then  bearing  the  cross  to  another  place,  he  kneels,  and  places  it  there. 
Then  putting  off  his  shoes  from  off  his  feet,  he  approaches  "to  adore  the  cross,"— 
kneeling  three  times  before  he  kisses  it!  Then  after  him,  come  the  other  clergy,  and 
laitv,  two  by  two,  who  kneel  thrice,  and  adore  the  cross, — adorani  crvcem ."'  See 
Rom.  Missal.  Dubl.  Edit.  1795.  "The  Roman  Missal,  for  the  use  of  the  laity," 
has  omitted  the  closing  part  of  this  idolatrous  ceremony, — because  it  is  a  translation, 
in  English;  and  is  given  to  the  Protestant  public.     Finch,  p.  291. 

The  worship  of  the  consecrated  wafer  has  been  repeatedly  noticed,  as  a  prominent 
part  of  your  idolatry.  You  convert  it,  by  the  muttering  of  ^'■hoc  est  corpus,''  into 
the  Host;  thai  is  the  hosiia,  or  victim  to  be  offered  up  in  sacrifice  for  the  quick,  and 


KOMAK  CATHOLIC  CONTROVEHST.  283 

the  dead.  This  idolatry,  while  it  is  as  palpable,  and  as  brutish  as  thai  which  was 
the  reproach  of  the  ancient  Egyjnians,  is  decidedly  the  most  degrading  in  all  the  his- 
tory of  human  infamy.  The  ignorant  Egyptian  would  never  degrade  himself  so  low 
as  to  eat  his  idol  calf;  or  his  onion  god :  he  could  never  be  so  far  brutalized,  as  to 
become  a  cannibal;  and  eat  a  sacrifice  of  human  flesh!  But,  j'ou,  Rev.  Fathers, 
and  your  victims,  less  fastidious,  make  your  bran  god;  then  adore  him;  and,  then, 
tat  him  up!  You  convert  the  67*an  g'orf  into  human  flesh,  and  human  blood;  and 
then,  like  cannibals,  you  eat  this  human  flesh,  and  drink  this  human  blood  ! 

Then,  only  think  of  the  prayer  which  you  offer  up  to  this  ivafer  god,  before  you 
despatch  him  into  the  stomachs  of  the  faithful,  and,  thence,  "  into  the  draught."  Here 
it  is; — "O  saving  Host!  thou  that  openest  heaven's  door, — the  arms  of  our  enemies 
enclose  us;  we  need  thy  help:  O  speedily  help  us,  we  humbly  implore  thee!"  See 
"Manual  of  godly  prayers,  and  the  hymn  of  Aquinas  in  it."  And  Glasg.  Prot. 
chap.  60. 

In  fine,  being  infuriate  with  the  spirit  of  idolatry,  you  do  actually  convert  the 
sacrament  into  a  god!  Yes,  Fathers,  you  actually  worship  and  adore  it,  under  the 
name  of  St.  Sacrament!  "The  manual  of  godly  prayers,"  contains  the  litany  of 
this  new  Roman  catholic  deity.  A  few  extracts  from  it  will  close  this  Letter.  ~  And 
I  request  my  reader  to  remember  that  these  prayers  are  addressed,  not  to  Christ,  not 
to  God,  but  to  St.  Sacrament;  as  is  evident  from  the  words  of  a  little  book  published 
in  French,  in  1669,  entitled,  "Practice  to  adore  the  holy  Sacrament,"  which  begins 
thus, — "Praised  and  adored  be  the  most  holy  Sacrament  of  the  altar  !"  Here  is  a 
part  of  the  litany; — "Bread  corn  of  the  elect,  have  mercy  on  us!  Wine  budding 
from  virgins,  have  mercy  on  us!  Fat  bread,  and  the  delight  of  kings,  have  mercy 
on  us!  Supersubstantial  bread,  have  mercy  onus!  Word  made  flesh  dwelling 
i:*  us,  have  mercy  on  us  I" 

To  understaud  this  last  phrase,  we  have  only  to  remember  that  they  had  swallow- 
ed the  wafer ;  and  that  wafer,  being  the  body  and  blood,  sovl  and  divinity  of  Christ, 
was  in  their  stomachs,  at  the  moment  of  uttering  this  extraordinary  prayer ! 

"  Sacrifice,  of  all  others  most  holy,  have  mercy  on  us!  Dreadful,  and  life-giving 
sacrament,  have  mercy  on  us  !     Unbloody  sacrifice,  have  mercy  on  us .'" 

Such  are  a  few  specimens  of  your  unparalleled  idolatry  and  superstition  ;  as  they 
are  believed  and  practised  by  you,  this  day,  in  our  cities  ;  and  over  the  land.  Yes! 
such  is  the  idolatry  and  superstition  of  your  harned  priests;  and  ''highly  polished, 
gifted,  and  accomplished  bishops,"'  whom  one  of  the  editorial  corps,  the  other  day, 
called  "  the  ornament  of  letters,  and  the  glory  of  our  land  !"  I  rest  my  appeal,  with 
the  enlightened  American  community,  if  the  idolatry  and  superstition  of  your  soi- 
disant  christian  church,  do  not  utterly  eclipse,  and  completely  throw  into  the  shade, 
the  foulest  idolatry  and  superstition,  of  the  most  pagan  lands,  in  their  most  pagan 
condition ! 

I  am,  Reverend  Fathers,  yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


334  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVKRST. 


LETTER  XXV. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,  AND  THE  LORDS  BISHOPS    OF  THE  ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UMTED    STATES. 

On  the  internal  symptoms  of  certain  decay,  and  jinal  ruin,  in  Popery. 

"  Babylon  the  great  is  fallen, — is  fallen!  Her  sins  have  rcaciied  unto  heaven;  and  God 
has  remembered  her  iniquities !"     Rev.  xviii.  2,  5. 

Reverend  Fathers  : — Having  done  some  justice,  to  your  doctrine  of  the  mass, 
and  purgatory ;  and  having,  as  you  will  generou.sly  admit,  made  a  fair  exhibition  of 
the  idolatry  and  superstition  of  your  church,  it  may  be  proper  now  to  notice  the 
symptoms  of  necessary  decay  in  your  novel  and  sectarian  system.  Every  heresy  has  its 
weak  side,  and  vulnerable  parts.'  Every  apostacy  from  pure  Christianity,  and  your 
church  is  the  grand  apostacy,  foretold  even  to  the  letter, — has  in  it  the  jarring  and 
deadly  elements  which  work  its  death.  The  King  of  Zion  has  so  ordained  it.  As  sin 
necessarily  works  death  in  the  human  body,  even  so  there  is  that  mortal  element  in 
every  apostacy  which,  necessarily,  by  the  laws  of  immutable  justice,  worketh  its  death 
and  extinction.  In  the  natural  world,  the  kind  and  benignant  Deity  sends  an  anti- 
dote to  kill  the  viper's  poison,  where  vipers  al)ijund  ;  and  to  neutralize  the  vegetable 
and  mineral  poisons,  where  these  exist.  Even  so  it  is  in  the  spiritual  world.  No 
error,  no  heresy,  no  apostacy  has  ever  yet  appeared,  without  some  potent  element  of 
truth  set  forth  ;  or  some  fatal  internal  disease  to  work  its  gradual  destruction  !  And 
just  in  proportion  to  the  greatness  of  the  evil  system,  so  is  the  remedial  element  found 
to  be  potent  and  irresistible.  The  king  of  Zion  is  very  wit-e,  and  boundless  in  mercy. 
Hence  he  has  ordained,  in  mercy  to  a  bleeding  and  agonized  world,  that  when  a 
system,  such  as  popery,  or  Mohammedanism  is  the  mortal  eneniy  of  the  human  race, 
in  civil  and  religious  things, — there  shall  be  not  only  seK  remedial  elements,  but  even 
a  suicidal  principle  embodied  in  it,  by  its  impious  fabricators. 

Now  this,  if  I  mistake  not,  is  pre-eminently  the  case  with  popery.  And  you  can 
correct  me,  Fathers,  if  in  aught  I  err  on  this  ])oint.  There  are  elements  wrought  up 
into  your  whole  system,  which  are  ahsolutely  suicidal ;  and  will,  as  naturally  and 
necessarily,  work  the  death  of  the  whole  system,  as  God's  laws,  in  nature,  produce 
their  own  proper  effects.  And  it  is  a  comfort  to  reflect  that  tliis  process  in  the  moral 
world,  and  in  religious  systems,  is  just  as  certain  in  its  effects,  as  in  the  natural  world. 
For  instance,  the  systems  of  the  Brahmins,  and  other  pagans,  which  are  founded  and 
sustained  by  darkness  and  ignorance  of  the  sciences,  must  fall  to  the  ground  when 
ever  its  victims  are  illumined  in  tlie  arts  and  sciences  of  the  christian  world.  That 
religious  system  which  has,  for  a  part  of  its  solemn  creed,  a  belief  that  the  earth  is  a 
vast  plain,  and  not  a  globe;  and  that  it  rests  on  the  back  of  a  huge  land  turtle,  must 
fall  to  ruins  before  the  science  of  astronomy  and  geography.  Even  so  as  certainly 
must  popery  fall  by  its  own  jarring  elements,  and  the  influence  of  its  own  corruption. 

Plrst : — Your  system  lays  no  foundation  for  saving  faith.  This  follows  as  a  legiti- 
mate inference  from  what  we  have  established  in  our  preceding  letters.  To  the  object 
of  divine  worship,  you  add  angels,  saints,  relics,  and  the  wood  of  the  cross,  to  which 
you  render  latria,  or  the  higher  worship.  In  the  mass  you  have  an  entire  substitu- 
tion of  priestcraft,  for  the  one,  only,  and  perfect  atonement :  in  the  doctrine  of  justifi- 


ROMAZV    CATHOLIC    CO.NTROVERST.  285 

cation  before  God,  your  church  has  thrown  away  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  and 
has  substituted  good  works,  as  the  only  meritorious  cause  of  our  personal  acceptance. 
Justification  b\'  our  own  merits  was  established  in  the  sixth  session  of  the  council  of 
Trent.  And  your  standard  writers  universally  teach  the  damning  error.  Moreover, 
one  needs  only  to  open  the  Roman  Missal,  in  order  to  see  that  you  otier  up  prayers  to 
the  saints,  that  God,  "through  their  merits"  would  deliver  you  from  all  sin.  I  open 
the  book  at  random, — my  eyes  have  just  met  this  prayer  of  yours  to  St.  Nicholas, — 
"  O  God,  grant,  that  by  his  merits  and  intercession  we  may  be  delivered  from  eternal 
flames."  Rom.  Mis.  for  the  use  of  the  Laity,  p.  527.  It  is  taught  by  your  unblush- 
ing priests,  that  the  saints  have  not  only  merit  in  God's  sight  to  procure  their  own 
salvation,  but  they  have  an  immense  surplus  thereof,  which  they  kindly  lend  to 
others:  and  the  pope  has  generously  assumed  the  keeping  of  this  fund;  and  as 
generously  weighs  it  out,  for  ready  gold  and  silver,  to  the  simple  faithful !  Hence,  it 
is  obvious  that  (he  entire  foundation  of  saving  faith  is  taken  away.  1  do  not  deny  that 
there  are  pious  men  in  your  church  ;  but  if  there  be,  they  are  where  they  ought  never 
to  be.  But  that  victim  of  your  delusions,  who  believes  as  the  Roman  church  believes, 
and  dies  in  its  faith,  must  either  leave  heaven,  or  Jesys  Christ  must  leave  it.  They  can- 
not possibly  live  in  the  same  heaven!  As  surely,  then,  as  Christ's  cause  must 
flourish,  so  surely  must  popery  wither  away  and  perish  utterly. 

Second  : — The  day  is  coming  when  the  contradictions  so  glaring  in  the  system  of 
Popery;  and  its  jarring  elements,  will  cause  every  man  of  sense,  forthwith,  to  aban- 
don it,  as  infamous.  A  folio  volume  might  be  filled  with  gleanings  of  these:  I  can 
give  only  a  few  specimens.  The  Roman  church  calls  itself  chrisiian,— yet  there  is 
now,  no  one  doctrine  of  Christ  which  it  has  not  altered,  and  completely  changed. 
"You  are  saved  by  grace,"  says  our  Lord.  "  No!  ye  are  saved  by  your  own  works, 
and  the  merits  of  the  saints!"  Says  your  Lord,  the  Pope.  "By  the  deeds  of  the 
law  no  flesh  shall  be  justified,"  says  our  Lord  "By  the  deeds  of  the  law,  all  good 
Roman  catholics  are  justified,"  says  your  lord,  the  pope.  "Thou  shalt  worship  the 
Lord  thy  God  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve,"  says  our  God.  "You  shall  worship 
and  invoke  angels  and  saints,  and  Mary  the  queen  of  heaven,  the  great  mediatrix 
between  God  and  man,"  says  your  god  the  pope.  "  By  his  one  sacrifice  and  one  offer- 
ing, Christ  has  perfected  them  that  are  sanctified,"  says  our  Lord."  "No!  in  the 
mass  we  offer  up  continually  a  real  propitiatory  sacrifice,  to  appease  God,  for  the 
quick  and  the  dead,"  says  your  lord,  the  pope. 

Our  God  has  jirohibited  the  making  of  images  for  religious  use  and  service,  and 
enjoins  us  "not  to  bow  down  to  them."  "This  by  no  means  forbids  us  to  make, 
and  use  images  in  worship,"'  savs  your  lord  in  the  Trentine  Catechism,  par.  iii.  sect. 
33,  &c. 

Our  God  prohibits  all  images  of  himself,— '*  Take  good  heed  to  yourselves,  for 
ye  saw  no  manner  of  similitude  on  the  day  that  the  Lord  spake  to  you  in  lloreb,  lest 
ye  corrupt  yourselves  and  make  you  a  graven  image,  the  similitude  of  ony  figure!*^ 
"No,  tliis  is  not  to  be  obeyed,"  say  your  lord,  the  pope,  and  the  Trentine  fathers, — 
"  for  no  otience  is  comtiiitted  against  God's  law  to  express,  and  shadow  out,  by  signs 
any  of  the  persons  of  the  Trinity," — "it  is  lawful  to  shadow  out  the  Trinity  by  some 
figures."     See  Trent.  Catech.  ])art  iii.  sect.  36.  p.  350. 

Our  God  prohibits  male  and  female  images  to  be  made,  for  religious  uses,  or  wor- 
ship. "Take  heed  to  yourselves, — lest  ye  corrupt  yourselves, — and  make  the  simi- 
lilude  of  any  figure  tlie  likeness  of  male,  or  female  f''     Deut.  iv.  J5.  16.     "  This  we 


2S6  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

do  not  obey,  nor  believe,"  cry  your  lord,  the  Pope,  and  the  Councils  of  Holy  Mother, 
— "  We  do  make,  and  we  shall  make,  and  we  shall  adore  miages  of  male  saints,  and 
of  female  saints  /" 

The  regenerate  have  to  mourn  the  power,  and  evil  fruits  of  sin  that  dwelleth  in 
them.  "I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inner  man,"  says  St.  Paul, — ''But  I 
see  another  law  in  my  members  warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind  ;  and  bringing 
me  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin,  which  is  in  my  members."  Rom.  vii.  22. 
*'  This  is  not  true ;  it  is  heresy," — cries  your  lord,  by  the  voice  of  the  Trent  Fathers. 
'■''There  is  nothing  in  the  regenerate  that  God  can  hate  ;  and  that  they  are  inwardly 
jmre,  and  without  spot.''  See  Concil.  Trent.  Sess.  5.  And  while  they  hold  that  he  is 
thus  "pure  inwardl}',  and  without  spot ;  and  while  there  is  nothing  in  him  that  God 
hates,"  they  teach  that,  with  all  this  perfection  and  love  of  God,  "  a  man  doubts,  and 
must  doubt,  his  salvation  as  long  as  he  is  in  this  life :"  and  needs  purgatory,  after  all! 
fSee  Trent.  Conf.  6.  chap.  9. 

It  is  a  standard  doctrine  of  Rome  that  each  of  their  seven  sacraments  "conveys 
grace."  Na^s  more  than  that, — in  the  mass,  by  the  wafer,  there  is  conveyed  i?ito 
each  of  their  church  members,  a  real,  whole,  and  entire  Jesus  Christ  :  he  is  in  them. 
Hence  the  prayer  we  formerly  noticed  in  the  Litany  of  St.  Sacrameiit,  in  the 
Manual  of  Godly  Prayers, — "  O  word,  made  flesh,  and  dwelling  in  us,  have  mercy 
on  us."  This  is  addressed  to  "the  Christ  fn  them,"  after  he  is  swallowed  in  the 
wafer.  Now,  all  men,  who  choose  to  say  that  they  are  of  Holy  Mother, — even  all 
who  choose  to  come  under  the  priests'  care;  even  the  most  infidel,  and  flagitious  who 
walk  the  earth,  can  possess  the  "real  grace," — and  what  you  call  the  divine  and 
only  Savior,  as  really  in  them,  as  food  is  in  the  stomach  !  And  yet,  at  the  moment 
of  taking  in  this  special  grace,  and  real  Savior,  they  are  living*  in  mortal  sins  against 
the  law  of  God.  And  hence,  when  they  die, — they  descend,  not  into  purgatory, — 
that  is  too  good  for  them;  they  descend  into  hell,  with  the  special  grace  of  Saint 
Sacrament — and  with  "  the  real  and  true  Jesus  Christ  dwelling  in  them.""  That  is, 
they  take  grace  and  "the  true  Savior,"  to  hell,  along  with  them!  ! 

Hence,  in  perfect  consistency  with  all  this  mass  of  absurdity  and  contradic- 
tion, the  lihemish  annotators  teach,  "that  wicked  men  and  even  reprobates,  if  they 
only  remain  in  the  public  profession  of  the  church;"  that  is,  the  Romish  church, 
*'  are  true  members  of  the  body  of  Christ."  Rhem.  An.  in.  Joh.  15,  Sect.  1.  And 
therefore,  it  is  of  no  consequence  how  a  man  lives, — the  most  obstinate  unbeliever, 
the  adullei-er,  the  murderer,  the  liar,  the  thief,  the  perjured,  are  all  safe,  if  they  only 
^^2/' — yes,  only  say  it  to  the  priest,  that  they  do  belong  to  "Holy  Mother  church:" 
nnd  do  swallow  down  into  their  stomachs  "  the  real  Jesusin  the  wafer,"  they  are  quae 
63fe!  They  may  probably  be  subjected  to  a  scorching  and  severe  singeing  in  purga- 
tory,— but  they  will  certainly  for  the  matter  of  a  few  dollars  and  cents,  get  out  of 
even  that.  The  Romish  church,  and  doctors  laugh  to  scorn  those  who  teach  the  need 
of  "saving  inward  grace,  and  a  new  birth."  Nothing  more  is  needed,  says  Bellar- 
mine,  than  "the  external  profession,  and  their  union  to  Mother  church."  See  Bell. 
Lib.  iii.  De  Eccles.  cap.  2.  And  we  need  oaly  to  add,  here,  their  sentiments 
respecting  the  holy  scriptures,  in  which,  as  we  have  fully  proved,  they  embrace  reso- 
lutely the  most  inveterate  deism! 

Nothing  is  more  certain,  therefore,  than  this,  that  the  Romish  church  is  strictly 
and  properly  speaking  the  mother  of  deism.  She  rejects,  and  even  ridicules  that 
\>'l^icl;i  the  Bible  makes  the  test  of  discipleship  in  th§  christian: — "If  any  man  be  m 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    COh'TROVERST.  287 

Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature."  This,  to  the  pope  and  his  bishops,  as  you  well  know. 
Fathers,  is  a  nauseous,  and  disgusting  doctrine.  She  takes  away  the  very  fountain 
head  of  purity,  virtue,  and  godliness.  Hence  she  is  as  much  the  mother  of  vice  and 
all  abominations,  as  she  is  the  mothtr  of  deism  ! 

Does  any  man  ask  for  proof?     You  can  see  it  on  every  page  of  your  decretals, 
canotis,  and  books  of  doctrine!     You  can  see  it  in  your  late  pope's  Bull  against  the 
Bible,  and  all  Bible  societies !     You  can  see  it  in  the  opposition  of  every  Romish 
priest,  directed  with  a  persevering,  and  rancorous  malignity,  against  the  reading  of 
the  holy  scriptures.     You  can  see  it  in  their  diabolical  etlbrts  to  burn  every  Bible 
which  they  can  find  in  the  hands  of  the  laity !     You  can  see  it  in  the  flagitious  lives 
of  the  priests ;  especially  in  all  lauds  where  poepry  reigns  in  power.     You  know  it 
to  be  a  canon  of  your  house,  and  a  practical  law  of  popery,  that  priests  may  keep 
their  concubines :  but  wo,  wo  be  to  those,  who  shall,  like  good  old  St.  Peter,  marry 
and  support  an  honest  wife  !     To  live  in  the  damning  sin  of  fornication,  ihe  Romish 
church  has  granted  a  free  canonical  toleration  to  every  "holy"  priest  in  her  service  ! 
Should  the  priests  dare  to  marry,  they  are  forthwith  guilty  of  a  mortal  sin!     But 
should  they  keep  concubines,  and  frequent  the  houses  which  "lead  to  the  chambers  of 
death,"  they  are  (piite  honest,  clean,  and  pure  priests!     Nay,   Fathers,  blush   not 
while  you  affect  lo  frown !    I  appeal  to  facts.     Every  body  sees  it  here.     And  it  is  a 
recorded  fact  of  history,  that  the  priests  of  Italy,  Spain,  Naples,  Austria,  are  a  con- 
gregation of  whoremongers  of  the  most  infamous  and  unblushing  class!     Even  the 
nobles  of  these  countries,  bad  as  they  are, — blush  for  them  ! — Hence  also  deism  covers 
these  lands.     Both  priests  and  the  people,  of  the  better  and  well  informed  class ; 
and  (hose  who  read  for  themselves,  are  all  deists, — nay.  Fathers,  they  are  atheists!'' 
"I  mu>.t  either  worship  the  virgin  Mary,  or  no  one," — said  a  genteel  Italian,  to  my 
friend  Dr.   Avery,  while  in  Rome:  "And  I   chose  as  a  man,"  continued  he,  "  to- 
worship  no   God !  For,  if  this  be  the  true  and  only  religion,  then  say  I  deliberatel}', 
there  is  no  God!"     And  thisexpresses  the  sentiments  of  nearly  the  whole  body  of  the 
middling  and  higher  classes  of  that  community  !     It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  be 
otherwise.     The  master  craft  of  Satan  prevails  over  the  human  reason  and  judg- 
ment, in  these  jjopish  lands  of  the  darkness  of  the  shadow  of  death.     Under  the  influ- 
ence of  your  church's  diabolical  priestcraft,  men  are  taught,  are  tempted,  are  con- 
strained to  reject  all  that  is  named  christian,  by  those  villainous  priests'  lips;  nay,  to 
laugh  to  scorn  even  the  existence  of  a  God!     I  appeal  to  the  most  manifest  facts  of 
hist(jry  ;    and  what  every  traveller  sees  with  his  eyes;    and  hears  with  his  ears. 
Every  popish  country,  thoroughly  imbued  with  popery,  is  a  laud  of  deism  and  athe- 
ism:    No  sober  man  ever  thinks  of  doubting  it.     The  priests  and  bishops,  as  Mr. 
Noah,  in  the  Evening  Star,  justly  observed  of  Bishop  England,  "are  merely  men  of 
the  world,  and  politicians.''^     They  traffic  in  the  ghostly  trade  of  popery:  they  deal 
in  masses,  and  confessions  and  purgatory  for  ready  money.     They  care  no  more 
for  the  articles  they  deal  in,  than  the  Yankee  does  for  his  wooden  nutmegs.    Providing 
they  get  ready  money  and  can  conceal  the  craft,  in  order  to  make  another  draft  on 
the  simple  faithful,  when  they  are  again  in  funds,  they  care  for  nothing,  present,  or 
future  ;  for  nothing  in  heaven,  or  in  purgatory,  or  in  hell ! !     They  laugh  in  derision 
at  hell,  and  heaven!     It  is  the  trade  they  have  been  brought  up  to;  and  they  follow 
it  as  the  farmer,  or  the  jockey,  or  the  gambler  does  his  vocation.     The  sole  object  of 
Romish  priestcraft  is  gain,  and  guilty  pleasure  ! 

Hence,  popery,  by  its  deism  and  atrocious  vices,  and  its  tyranny  over  the  souls  and 


2S8  ROMAX  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

bodies  of  men ;  and  by  its  systematic  robbery  of  its  victims,  and  exactions  for  masses^ 
and  at  the  conftssional,  is  infallibly  working  its  own  ruin,  and  total  downfall.  The 
explosion  of  the  old  French  Revolution  was  one  legitimate  effect  of  po])ery.  It 
gendered  the  t/eis/?i  of  the  French ;  and  thence  t'eir  af^ejsm.  And,  like  the  unguarded 
man  who  is  blowing  up  rocks  according  to  rule,  it  lays  the  train,  unwittingly,  to 
blow  itself  up,  in  an  hour  when  it  thinks  not  of  it.  And  just  as  certainly  as  deism, 
the  fruits  of  popery,  overturned  the  house  of  the  Bourbon,  Louis  XVI ;  and  just  as  cer- 
tainly as  the  Jesuits'  excess  of  zeal  for  Holy  Mother  produced  the  explosion  which 
drove  the  priest  ridden  Charles  X.  from  his  throne, — so  certainly  is  popery  laying 
the  train  over  Italy,  Naples,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Austria,  which  will,  ere  long, 
produce  such  another  explosion,  as  Europe  has  never  yet  witnessed.     For, — 

"There  will  never  be  peace  while  Anti-Christ  reigns!" 

I  am.  Rev.  Fathers,  yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXVI. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,     AND    THE    LORDS    BISHOPS,     OF    THE     ROMAN     CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

On  the  aymptoms  of  decay,  and  certain  ruin,  in  the  Romish  church. 

"The  Man  of  Sin,  shall  be  revealed,  the  Son  of  Perdition,  who,  as  God,  sitteth  in  tho 
temple  of  God,  sliowing  iiiinself  that  he^is  God." — '2  Thess.  ii. 

Reverend  Fathers: — In  addition  to  my  former  tivo  specifications,  I  have^ 
thirdly,  to  beg  y<n]r  patient  admission  of  another  severe,  but  most  manifest  truth,  on 
this  point.  It  is  this  ; — The  gross  immorality  of  popery,  and  demoralizing  tendency  of 
all  its  jieculiar  tenets,  indicate  the  certain  decay,  and  ruin  of  that  system. 

It  were  an  easy  matter  to  show  that  the  Romish  church  has,  in  theory  and  practice, 
repealed  all,  and  each,  of  the  ten  commandments.  In  reference  to  the^rs^  and  second, 
behold  your  neio  go<ls,  saints,  angels,  and  images !  The  third  the}'-  abrogate,  by 
giving  to  their  idols,  and  saints,  the  divine  titles,  attributes,  and  works, — "Holy  I\lary, 
for  instance,  is  Mediatrix  between  God  and  man."  They  appoint  days  of  worsliip,  and 
institute  ordinances  to  adore  and  praise  them,  and  they  swear  by  them,  to  the  neglect 
and  contempt  of  ihe  only  true  God.  The  fourth  precept  is  virtually  repealed,  by 
their  institution  of  the  days  now  alluded  to,  which  are  kept  holier  than  the  Sabbath. 
By  a  late  bull  of  the  pope,  which  was  published  in  the  Episcopal  paper  of  Philadel- 
phia, the  holy  priests  are  prohibited  from  going  into  theatres,  on  Wednesdays  and 
Fridays;  as  a  mortal  sin!  But  they  may  go  into  theatres  on  the  Sabbath  day! 
And  this  is  actually  done,  as  every  traveller  well  knows,  in  all  catholic  Europe,  and 
in  South  America,  and  even  in  New  Orleans,  in  our  own  country!  It  is,  indeed,  a 
matter  of  recorded  history,  that  just  in  proportion  as  popery  prevails  in  any  land,  is 
the  Sabbaihof  the  Lord  desecrated,  and  utterly  despised!  This  follows  as  naturally 
as  our  other  position,  that  popery  is  the  parent  and  nurse  of  deism ! 

Theffth  precept  is  abrogated  by  placing  the  clergy  above  the  law,  and  without  the 
reach  of  civil  law,  and  above  the  judgment  bar  of  the  magistracy,  in  Roman  catholic 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  28i.^ 

laads:  and  by  the  insolent  usurpation  of  the  pope,  in  setting  subjects  free  from  their 
oath  of  allegiance  to  their  lawful  rulers.  This  j)ower  is  acknowledged  by  all  bishops, 
as  you  very  well  know,  Fathers.  And  as  soon  as  you  can  gain  an  ascendency,  here, 
you  have  your  secret  instructions,  you  know;  and  you  are  bound  by  your  oath,  to 
loose  all  the  citizens  from  their  oath  of  allegiance  to  our  republic;  and  to  own,  as  in 
duty  bound,  allegiance  to  the  pope,  "your  only  legal  superior."  This  is  enjoined  on 
every  bishop,  in  his  oath, — namely,  to  sustain  ^;nd  support  the  pope's  power  against 
all  princes,  and  presidents  !  And  thi.^^  you  would  do,  to  render  God  a  service  by  set- 
ting men  free  from  the  power  and  rule  of  our  magistrates,  whom  you  curse  and 
denounce  as  heretics !  This,  you  are  aware,  is  manifest  from  the  words  of  your  oath ; 
aud  from  your  books.  And  it  has  been  actually  done  in  every  country  in  Europe, 
•where  the  pope  has  l)een,  by  the  wrath  of  God,  permitted  to  rivet  his  galling  chains 
on  the  neck  nf  magistrates  and  people.  Hence  the  cases  of  king  John  of  England, 
and  the  Enineror  Henry  IV.  of  Germany,  whom  he  trampled  under  his  feet ! 

"  Thou  shalt  not  kill."" — This  sixth  precept  they  repeal  by  opening  an  asylum  to 
murderers;  and  preventing  mmderous  priests  from  suffering  the  due  penalty  of  th« 
civil  law;  by  preaching  the  doctrine  of '*  no  faith  with  heretics,"  and  by  teaching 
that  it  is  lawful,  and  even  praiseworthy,  in  God's  eyes  to  murder  heretics,  and  all 
enemies  of  "Mother  Church."  Hence  the  applauded  assassinations  of  princes,  and 
other  men  by  your  members  ;  hence  your  authorized,  and  applauded  massacres,  per- 
eecutious,  and  inquishions?  Popery  is  a  system  which  patronises  murder  by  whole- 
sale J  And  we  will  show  in  another  Letter,  that  the  scarlet  Beast  has  already  on  its 
hands,  and  its  head,  the  blood  of  sixty-eight  millions  of  human  beings, — murdered  in 
cold-blooded  persecutions ! 

The  abrogation  of  the  seventh  precept  is,  par  excellence,  the  most  noted  trait  of  the 
Romish  church.  The  scriptures  of  the  New  Testament,  with  all  its  perfect  refine- 
ment, calls  that  church  "  The  whore  of  Babylon  ;"  "  the  mother  of  harlots," — "  the 
mother  of  fornication."  See  Rev.  xvii.  She  is  shadowed  forth  as  a  "drunken  wo- 
juaii, — drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints!"  Nay,  she  is — pardon  me,  I  use  Bible 
phrases,—"  a  Beast  in  all  pollution !"     See  ver.  3,  and  11. 

I  have  materials  in  my  possession  describing  the  character,  and  vices  of  the  clergy, 
which  1  cannot  put  down  in  English!  It  would  make  even  the  profligate  shudder, 
and  cry  out,  for  shame !  And,  if  it  be  so  bad  to  name, — or  even  to  allude  to  it, — what 
a  horrid  sceue  would  it  present,  to  lift  up  from  the  haunts  of  nuns  and  monks,  the 
veil  which  keeps  the  public  from  looking,  with  steadfast  eye,  at  the  priests  of  Rome, 
as  they  really  are  !  I  beg  leave  to  refer  my  reader  to  the  pages  of  the  Romish  writer 
Nich.  Ci;:nangis;  and  to  Edgar's  Variations,  last  chapter,  on  "  The  ceUbac}' of  the 
Romish  clergy." 

It  is  notoriously  known  that  houses  of  infamy,  are  publicly  licensed  at  Rome,  by 
the  pope,  and  that  he  receives,  quarterly,  his  shares  of  the  wages  of  infamy  and  crime  \ 
And  did  I  set  down  here  the  materials  furnished  me  by  my  friend  Dr.  Avery,  who 
resided  a  whole  winter  at  Rome,  it  would  fill  all  honest  men  with  horror  at  the  vices 
of  thf  past,  and  present  priesthood  of  Rome  I  And  yet,  one  of  your  own  number, 
bishop  England,  in  vioLuion  of  all  truth,  and  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience, 
bepraiscs  tliese  infamous  adulterers,  and  ghostly  debauchees,  as  "  holy  and  virtuous 
men." — "  Heaven  save  the  mark  !" 

VVhy.  thfi  men  and  women  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  were  quite  modest,  and  vir- 
tuous personages  compared  to  the  priesthood  of  Rome,  in  ages  past,  and  at  this  day. 

26 


^90  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

In  Spain,  the  council  of  Toledo,  in  its  17th  canon,  allowed  priests  to  have  concultneSf 
publicly  ;  but  to  marry  was  pronounced,  in  them,  a  deadly  sin!  In  many  parts  of 
that  country,  the  priests  have  as  numerous  families,  as  any  honest  men  have!  They 
are  holy  fathers,  without  ivives!  The  Roman  writer  Clemangis  says,— "The  adul- 
tery, impurity,  obscenity,  drunkenness,  and  reveUings  of  the  clergy,  are  beyond  all 
description  !"  See  Clcman.  26,  Lcnfan.  i.  70.  Others  of  their  own  writers  declare 
the  Romish  clergy  over  all  England,  Ireland,  France,  Spain,  Italy,  "  as  a  confra- 
ternity of  the  filthiest,  and  most  infamous  fornicators!  SeeBruy.  iii.  610.  Mezeray 
IV.  490.  GildasEp.  23.  38.  M.  Paris  8.— "The  priests  almost  universally,  would 
hasten  from  iheir  haunts  of  infamy,  and  drunkenness,  to  celebrate  mass,"  says  Lab- 
beus,  "and  feared  not  to  touch  the  body  of  the  Lord,  with  most  polluted  hands." 
vol.  XV.  247,  and  vol.  xix.  389.  Even  "holy"  councils  treated  purity  and  chastity 
with  bitter  sarcasm.  These  "holy"  fathers,  wherever  congregated  in  councils,  turn- 
ed the  city,  where  they  met,  into  a  Sodom;  then  with  unblushing  and  diaboHcal 
assurance  boasted  of  it!  After  the  council  of  Lyons,  for  instance,  Cardinal  Hugo, 
in  his  speech  to  the  citizens,  had  the  characteristic  assurance  to  say, — "When  the 
holy  council  assembled  here,  you  had  two  or  three  houses  of  bad  fame.  But  now. 
there  is  only  o)U  !  But  that  one  extends  from  the  east  gate,  to  the  west,  without  in- 
terruption !"     See  Labb.  xvi.  pp.  1435, 1436. 

In  the  ccmcil  of  Basil,  the  holy  fathers  taught  the  theory,  which  was  reduced  to 
practice,  in  the  councils  preceding  it,  namely,  those  at  Lyons,  and  Constance.  It 
was  in  that  Romish  assembly,  publicly  advocated,  that  ''houses  of  infamy  wert 
necesmry  and  proper!''  And  what  crowned  the  climax  of  damning  infamy, — "  th» 
horrible  atrocity  was  sanctioned  by  the  holy,  unerring,  apostoUc,  Roman  church." 
See  the  fact  stated  in  Labb.  vol.  xvii.  p.  986.  988.  And  Canisius  iv.  p.  457.  Edgar 
p.  518.  ilence  they  form  a  portion  of  the  pope's  revenues  !  How  appropriately  she 
is,  by  you,  baptized,— Ho/i/  Mother!  ■ 

The  eighth  precept  is  repealed  in  the  Roman  church,  by  turning  the  temple  of  God 
into  a  ]  lace  of  merchandize.  All  things  have  been,  and  still  are,  set  up  for  sale  at 
Rome  to  the  highest  bidder;— namely,  "the  priesthood,— bishoprics,  and  even  the 
chair  of  St.  Peter:"  and  prayers,  and  masses,  and  "the  souls  of  men!"  For  pur- 
gatory-is nothing  more  than  "a  ghostly  market  place,"— opened  up  for  the  sale  of 
masses,  and  trade  in  human  souls !  For  the  fixed  price,  any  soul  is  set  free  from 
its  pains,  and  put  to  "repose:"  and  without  the  sti])ulated  price,  no  soul  is  delivered. 
And  as  this  place,  is  purely  a  fiction  of  priestcraft,  as  every  one  of  you  knows  very 
well,  Reverend  Fathers,— all  the  money  procured  by  masses,  and  for  delivering 
souls  out  of  purgatory,  is  just  so  much  property  got  under  false  pretences,  and  by 
sheer  forgery !  You  not  only  procure  money  by  purgatory,  but  you  sell  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  to  the  highest  bidder.  You  usher  all  your  victims,  you  tell  us, 
infallibly  into  heaven,  according  to  the  sums  fixed  by  the  apostolical  tarilT.  Absolu- 
tion, and  a  passage  into  heaven,  are  given  to  those  of  you  who  receive  it,  and  pay 
the  church's  dues !"  Now,  Fathers,  whether  does  that  man,  or  your  Romish  church, 
offer  the  greatest  outrage  to  the  eighth  command  ?  He,  who  sells  lands  in  the  Texas, 
and  receh-es  the  ready  money,  while  he  owns  not  one  square  yard  there :— or  the. 
pope,  and  his  priesthood,  who  sell,  /or  monej/,  the  kingdom  of  heaven :  while  every 
one  of  you  knows  that  you  have  neither  title,  nor  deed  to  the  smallest  portion  of  that 
;.ngdom !  This  venality  of  Rome  has  passed  into  a  proverb  in  all  lands.  Hence 
tl    ^   -crdotal  yvaichword,— ''No  penny,  710  pater  noster!''     And  Chemnitius  in  his 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 


291 


Examtn,  has  given  us  the  copy  of  the  following  verses,  written  over  an  altar  in  a 
popish  cathedral. 

"  Ut  tibi  sit  poenac  venia,  sit  aperta  crumena, 
Hie  dat'jr  exponi  Paradisus  venditioni, 
Hio  si  large  des,  in  ccelo  sit  tua  sedes, 


Which  may  be  rendered  thus  : — "  That  you  may  have  the  free  remittance  of  punish- 
ment, only  let  your  purse  be  widely  open!  Here  Paradise  is  set  forth,  and  exjiosed 
to  sale !  Here,  if  you  give  liberally,  in  heaven  shall  be  your  abode !  For  the  paltry 
affair  of  money  only,  can  you  rejoice  in  the  highest  heavens!" 

The  ninth  precept  you  repeal,  by  the  false  witness  you  have  borne,  as  a  church, 
against  God's  people,  for  upwards  of  a  thousand  years.  Not  only  as  a  body,  have 
the  Roman  catholics  ultered  the  foulest  slanders  against  the  best  of  men,  whom  they 
put  to  death,  under  the  slanderous  name  of  heretics  :  but  individual  members  deem  it 
a  virtue  in  the  sight  of  God,  to  utter  slander  against  all  the  churches,  and  ministry, 
and  pious  members  of  the  Reformation !  Open  the  popish  books ;  listen  to  the  usual 
declamation  of  priests,  and  monks,  and  friars,  of  catholic  Europe:  and  our  own 
country, — and  you  w-ill  perceive  that  no  measured  terms  are  observed  with  the  Pro- 
testant world ;  and  those  who  differ  in  the  minutest  point  from  "  Holy  Mother !" 
All  men  not  within  your  pale,  you  pronounce  accursed,  and  certainly  dormed  to  per- 
dition. This  is  the  immutable,  and  very  charitable  doctrine  of  "Holy  Mother." 
The  ninth  precept  has.  therefore,  no  practical  place  in  your  bloody  code! 

Finally,  the  tenth  precept  is  repealed  by  your  whole  system,  wiiich  is  one  entire 
and  thoroughly  concocted  system  of  covetousness,  and  a  cunningly  devised  scheme  of 
money  making; — from  the  vending  and  selling-  cardinals'  hats,  and  the  pope's  tiara, 
down  to  the  manufacture  of:  scapulars,  and  the  selling  of  consecrated  leads,  and  relics! 
And  in  theory,  this  holy  precejjt  is  repealed  by  the  Jesuit  doctrine  of  your  r-ect,  that 
''  the  emotions  of  covetousness  in  the  human  soul,  are  no  sins^t  all,  unless  bancdon- 
ed  by  the  consent  of  the  man  I"     That  is, — "  sin  dwelling  in  us,"  is  no  sin ! 

Thus,  popery  has  in  it  the  elements  of  inveterate  corruption!  And,  according  to 
the  eternal  laws  of  heaven  in  the  natural,  and  moral  world,  it  must  be  dissolved,  and 
utterly  destroyed  by  its  own  internal  elements.  Such  errors, — such  heresies,  and 
infamous  vices  will  necessarily  annihilate  popery;  as  time  will  reveal. 

I  have  not  noticed  distinctly,  here,  the  political  tenets  of  popery;  its  tyranny  over 
the  body,  and  the  soul  of  man;  its  incessant,  and  unsubduablc  aim  at  universal,  and 
unlimited  power,  by  chaining  down  nations,  and  fixing  them,  in  the  most  wretched, 
and  degraded  slavery,  as  bond  slaves  to  tug  at  hs  bloody  car  !  To  this  I  must  devote 
a  se[)arate  Letter. 

I  have  only  to  observe,  at  present,  that  tyranny  is  the  sovl  and  spirit  of  popery  ! 
Take  away  that,  and  thereby  set  the  nations  free,  and  it  will  speedily  die,  and  be  dis- 
solved, and  utterly  annihilated.  No  man  knows  this  more  accurately  than  priests. 
No  man  is  more  thoroughly  persuaded  of  this  truth  than  those  men  who  are  hired  to 
write  it  up  in  our  community  ;  and  who  labor  to  persuade  their  victims  that  the  genius 
of  popery  is, — mirahile  dicta!  the  fostering  genius  of  liberty  and  the  rights  of  man! 

Now,  Fathers,  the  eyes  of  the  nations  are  opening.  This  deadly  hostility  of 
popery  to  the  rights  and  liberties  of  mankind,  is  working  its  downfall,  in  Mexico,  and 
in  the  South;  and  in  our  own  happy  republic:  and  over  the  Roman  catholic  nations 


292  ROMAN    CATHOLIO  CONTROVERSY. 

of  Europe.  And  I  tell  you,  Fathers,  that  the  pope,  and  his  minions,  may  as  soon 
chain  the  winds,  and  hurl  back  the  lightning  of  heaven,  as  keep  the  nations  of 
Europe  much  longer  in  the  grasp  of  its  ferocious  claws,  and  the  bloody  dungeons  of 
its  unheard  of  tyranny. 

I  am,  Rev.  Fathers,  yours,  &;c. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXVIL 


TO    THE     LORD    ARCHBISHOP,    AND    THE     LORDS    BISHOPS     OF    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

On  the  internal  symptoms  of  certain  decay,  and  ruin  in  Popery. 

"  Tiiey  that  see  thee,  sliall  look  narrowly  upon  thee,  and  consider  thee,  saying,  ii  thii  tha 
man  that  made  the  earth  to  tremble,  that  did  shake  kingdoms  ?"     Isaiah,  xiv.  16. 

Reverend  Fathers: — The  influences  of  an  apostate  and  false  religion  areas 
necessary  and  certain,  in  their  kind,  as  are  those  of  the  pure  and  holy  religion  of 
Chiist.  But,  while  they  are  equally  certain  and  necessary,  they  are  perfectly  oppo- 
site to  each  other.  A  false  religion  is  the  parent  of  ignorance  and  superstition :  it 
throws  a  deep  and  impenetrable  cloud  of  darkness  over  the  gloomy  minds  of  its  vic- 
tims. But  the  holy  religion  of  Jesus  scatters  the  most  joyous  rays  of  light  and  truth 
over  free  and  happy  minds.  A  false  religion  hates  the  light,  shuns  discussion;  and 
locks  op  the  sacred  fountain  of  truth,  and  refuses  even  a  solitary  rill  to  thread  its 
way  over  the  arid  plains  of  the  desert.  The  religion  of  Jesus  courts  the  fullest  and 
freest  investigatipn :  it  fears  nothing:  it  throws  open  the  pure  sparkling  fountain  of 
the  waters  of  life  and  bids  every  one  come  forward,  and  receive  it  as  freely  as  the  air 
which  he  breathes;  and  the  flood  of  light  which  is  poured  around  him.  False  reli- 
gion is  a  gloomy,  and  horrid  tyrant  grinning  on  his  throne  of  darkness  over  his  pros- 
trate and  trodden  down  votaries :  true  religion  is  a  holy  being  from  the  skies,  lovely 
as  the  face  of  Jesus,  smiling  on  us.  An  apostate  religion  wields  his  iron  mace  ;  and 
his  clanking  chains;  he  points  to  dungeons,  and  cells,  and  the  horrid  Inquisition's 
tribunal;  and  talks,  when  he  deigns  to  converse,  of  penances,  and  of  purgatorial 
tires !  True  religion  speaks  in  accents  of  redeeming  love :  and  leads  the  weary  and 
the  blind,  and  the  halt,  and  the  lame,  to  the  heahng  fountain,  and  everlasting  com- 
forts!  False  religion  kindles  the  fire  of  inhuman  persecution,  and  lights  up  the 
blazing  beacon  cf  deadly  wars,  and  deluges  the  nation  with  human  blood  !  Trne 
relifijion  breathes  nothing  but  love,  pure  and  undying  as  the  love  of  angels:  it 
cleanses  the  heart,  and  binds  man  to  man  in  ties  never  dissolved  even  in  eternity. 
It  r '^ver  raised  the  war  shout :  it  never  prompted  to  deeds  of  resistance,  except  in  self 
defence,  according  to  heaven's  first  and  necessary  law.  False  religion  debases  th6 
human  mind,  and  brutalizes  the  people  with  atrocious  vices,  which,  so  far  from  check- 
ing, it  rather  nurses;  not  purely  from  an  enmity  to  the  Most  High,  so  much  as  from 
its  accursed  lust  of  gold,  in  turning  sin  into  a  very  lucrative  article  of  trade  and  gain, 
by  means  of  penances,  and  indulgences !  True  religion  exalts  the  mind,  and  ele- 
vates  the  humblest  in   society  to   the   nobility  of  soul,    which   characterizes   tho 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  293' 

christian,  and  which  makes  him  scorn  a  mean,  and  wicked  action.  False  religion 
leads  on  its  disciples,  blindfold,  to  the  precipice  impending  over  the  gulf  of  perdition. 
True  religion  leads  man  over  the  barren  wilderness,  with  a  cloudy  pillar  by  day, 
and  a  shining  fire  by  night,  while  the  smitten  rock  ministers  to  them  in  streams  of 
consolation,  the  purest  and  most  exalted  joys!  True  religion,  in  a  word,  waxes 
brighter  and  brighter  in  virtue  and  glory,  until  she  reaches  her  own  native  skies,  and. 
the  pahice  of  the  King  of  Heaven.  False  religion  has.  in  her,  the  seeJs  of  death  and 
dissolution;    and  exists  after  death, — only  in  her  horrid  works,  and  images  in  hell! 

Fathers, — behold  the  one  on  the  papal  throne,  pulling  forth  its  influences  like  the 
smoke,  and  nameless  phantoms,  as  seen  in  vision  by  John,  issuing  out  of  the  mouth 
of  the  bottomless  pit.  Behold  the  other,  clothed  in  the  robe  of  light,  walking  forth 
over  the  prntcstant  nations  and  .shedding  her  choicest  blessings  on  the  people  who 
own  Imraanuel,  Jehovah  Jesus,  for  their  king.  And  we  bless  God,  that  the  lime  is 
now  fast  coming  when  the  pure,  one,  and  lioly  religion  of  Jesus  will  cover  the  whole 
earth  with  a  flood  of  glory.  For  false  and  apostate  religions,  with  Rome  at  their 
head,  are  tumbling  into  ruins  by  their  own  innate  corruption,  like  the  old  loitering 
weather  beaten  tower  walls,  smitten  by  the  gleaming  thunder  bolt  of  heaven ! 

I  have  enumerated  three  of  the  internal  symptoms  of  decay  and  certain  ruin  of 
popery.     Tlie  spirit  of  your  church  is  the  spirit  o£  antichrist :  hence, — 

Fourth: — The  Roman  catholic  church  has  formally  condemned  the  es>ential,  and 
holiest  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  In  addition  to  those  formerly  specified,  1  mid  ihc  fol- 
lowing from  Tom.  i.  Indicis  Librorum  expurgandorum,  S^c.  Of  the  index  of  Books 
expurgated,  by  Jo.  Mariam  Brans.  Master  of  the  sacred  apostolic  palace ;  Rome, 
1607.  Under  the  title  '•'■  Bihlia  Rob.  Sftphani,'''  we  find  the  following:  "From  the 
Index  of  thcM^  Bibles,  on  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  let  there  be  Hotted 
out  the  following  propositions  as  suspected  of  heresy:  viz: — . 

1.  *'  Sins  are  remitted  to  the  believer  in  Christ." 

2.  "The  believer  in  Christ  shall  never  die  eternally." 

3.  "The  Moly  Spirit  is  received  by  faith." 

4.  "Our  hearts  are  purified  by  faith." 

5.  "  God  prohibits  images  to  be  made  that  we  may  adore  them ;  and  bow  ourselve* 
down  before  them." 

6.  "There  is  no  righteousness  in  us  :"  Rom.  vii.  18. 

7.  "We  arc  justified  by  faiih  in  Christ." 

8.  "  Chritii.  Is  our  righteousness." 

9.  "  There  is  no  justifying  righteousness  from  the  works  of  the  law." 

10.  "There  is  none  just  before  God." 

11 .  "  Believers  are  about  to  enter  info  their  rest. 

12.  "  We  are  not  set  free  (from  sin)  on  account  of  our  works." 

13.  "  Go.l   lesires,  or  wills,  all  men  to  repent." 

14.  "Repmlance  is  the  gifi  of  God." 

15.  "The  word  of  God  alone  is  to  be  obeyed." 

16.  "That  each  man  may  have  his  own  wife." 

These  pure  and  evangelical  propositions  are  condemned  by  the  Romish  church  a* 
**damnablc  heresy!"  Hence  your  church  errs  mortally  in  doctrine.  Your  whole 
system  of  dtjctrine  is,  in  fact,  as  opposite,  and  as  hostile  to  the  simple  and  holy  gospel 
of  Christ,  as  is  the  code  of  Mohammed  ;  or  the  Shasfer  of  the  Hindoo!  And  just  as 
certainly  as  the  church  stands,  or  falls  with  these  doctrines; — so  certainly  does  that! 


Z9-k  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

apostate  church,  which  dares  utter  its  veto  against  heaven's  eternal  law,  and  decree?, 
— bear,  in  it,  the  elements  of  its  speedy  and  irretrievable  ruin ! 

"  He  that  sitfeth  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh  ; 

The  Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision: 

He  shall  speak  to  them  in  his  wrath  ; 

And  vex  them  in  his  sore  displeasure  ; 

Thou  shalt  break  them  with  a  rod  of  iion, 

Thou  shalt  dash  them  in  pieces  as  a  potter's  vessel." 

Fifth: — The  jarring  elements  in  your  church,  relative  to  the  grand  fundamental 
tenet  of  the  papoi  supremacy,  are  now  working  tlie  ruin  of  your  sect. 

This  I  call  a  fundamental  doctrine  :  it  is  the  foundation  of  the  whole  S3Stem.  On 
it  rest  your  claims  of  infallibility,  and  the  im})ossibility  of  the  church  of  Rom© 
erring!  On  it  rests  the  pope's  claim  of  absolute  power  over  your  souls,  thoughts, 
faith,  bodies,  and  property!  By  it,  he  is  the  potter,  and  you  the  clay  and  dust!  By 
it,  he  wields  the  potent  sceptre  over  kings  as  well  as  bishops.  By  it,  he  opens  heaven 
to  his  favorites,  and  slaves ;  and  dooms  all  heretics  to  hell !  By  it  he  places  hi* 
half  ivashed  flock,  in  the  fires,  and  waters  of  purgatory,  that  complete  the  work, 
which,  he  avows,  the  infinite  merits  of  Christ's  blood  could  not  do!  It  is,  in  fine, 
the  main  pillar  of  popery,  the  master-piece  of  Satan's  deep  laid  conspiracy  against 
the  rights  of  man  ! 

Now,  God,  in  mercy  to  mankind,  has  not  permitted  this  execrable  evil  to  enter  our 
world,  without  an  element  in  it,  which  will  destroy  it.  I  allude  to  the  wars,  and 
feuds  in  "  holy  and  infaUiole  Mother,"  on  this  matter. 

You,  Fathers,  and  your  prices  have  taken  much  pains  to  convince  the  American 
public  that  you  own  the  pope,  not  as  a  civil  prince, — not  as  possessing  any  temporal 
power  at  all, — but  siiuply  as  a  spiritual  head  of  union.  Now,  were  it  even  so,  it  is 
dangerous  enough  to  our  republic  to  have  men, — even  the  whole  of  your  bi&hops, 
and  all  your  priests,  and  all  your  members  absolutely  at  the  spiritual  nod,  which  is 
far  more  potent  than  the  political  nod,  of  a  foreign  despot  ;  who,  in  case  of  a  war 
with  any  of  his  favorite  powers,  would  lay  you  all  under  an  injunction  to  rise 
against  our  government,  to  a  man,  under  the  terrific  pains  of  purgatory,  and  the  eter- 
nal pains  of  hell ! 

But,  vf'U  do  own  this  foreign  despot  as  much  as  a  temporal  prince,  as  you  do  ov/q 
^m  a.i  a  spiritual  head.  You  know  it.  Fathers  ;  you  have  never  disowned  this;  it  is 
beyond  any  man's  gainsaying.  Your  oath  to  him  as  'nishops,  binds  you,  under  pains 
of  eternal  perdition,  to  own,  and  as>^ist,  and  sustain  the  pope  in  all  his  characters^ 
poxvers,  rights,  and  claims.  And,  let  me  tell  your  people, — and  you  know  it  well, — 
that  if  any  one  of  you  dared  to  disown  his  temporal  power,  to  his  face,  in  Rome,  or 
itt  any  Roman  catholic  nation  in  Europe,  you  would  forthwith  be  stript  of  your 
bishOjaic,  hurried  into  a  dungeon,  and  loaded  with  chains.  Dr.  England  can  tell  j'ou 
how  manv  instances,  and  proofs  he  has  seen  of  this.  I  invite  Dr.  England  to  stand  up 
before  the  American  nafion,  and  publicly  disavow  the  temporal  power  of  the  po}>€. 

Besides  the  struggles  which  have  already  been  displa3'ed  by  your  priests  against 
the  ofiice  of  Wardens  in  your  church  in  the  United  States,  show  clearly  enough  that 
the  priesthood  are  determined  to  exercise  absolute  power  over  the  temporals,  and  the 
pro|>erty  of  the  church.  Mons.  Reze,  in  a  letter  to  a  person  in  Europe,  and  published 
in  a  priaied  "Report,"  which  reached  us,  says, — "Mgr.  the  bishop  of  Cincinnati, 
has  tiib  happiness  of  governing  his  chuvchesy  without  church  Wardens.'''     "  Were  we 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  5^5 

to  establish  them,  they  might  be  useful  to  us,  but  we  should  fearschims,  dissentions, 
oF  all  evils  the  greatest.  Despotism  exercised  against  the  pastor,  and  division,  and 
disorder,  in  many  other  churches,  assure  us  of  this."  And  in  "the  Annals,"  you 
•tate  that,  in  the  national  council  which  met  at  Baltimore  in  1829,  you  discussed 
this  subject, — "  What  is  necessary  to  be  done  in  regard  to  trustees,  and  the  means  of 
repressing  their  pretensions.'"'  And  you  pronounce  this  a  struggle  between  the  claim* 
of  priests  and  laymen  to  exclusive  power  over  all  temporals,  and  church  property. 
This  is  a  plain,  and  irresistible  eviilence  of  the  pope  and  his  priests'  unalienablt 
claims  to  temporal  power.  And,  finally,  did  you  ever  3'et  hear  of  a  Romish  national 
church  existing  without  such  a  union  of  church  and  state,  that  the  church  has  an 
absolute  power  ov^er  the  state,  and  guides  the  conscience  of  even  the  king,  as  a  tutor 
guides  a  child.  The  papist,  be  he  priest  or  layman,  who  ventures  to  tell  the  Ameri- 
can public  that  he  owns  not  the  pope's  temporal  power,  must  have  no  ordinary  a 
degree  of  unblushing  eflrontery  ! 

But,  even  admitting  that  you  do  not,  here  then  you  form  another  great  faction  in 
the  bosom  of  Holy  Mother.  You  di.Ter,  hereby,  on  the  pope's  supremacy,  from  }our 
European  fellow  members  in  the  church. 

In  Europe  there  are  four  prominent  factions  in  Holy  Mother's  bosom.  The  frsl 
maintains  the  pope  to  be  supreine,  as  a  president, — "  the  pope  is  only  the  first  of 
the  bishops."  He  has  power,  not  legislative,  but  executive  only  ;  he  is  inferior  to  a 
general  council ;  and  is  by  no  means  infallible :  and  has  no  right  to  depose  kings. 
This  is  the  prevalent  doctrine  of  the  French  catholic  church.  See  Dupin  Diss.  p. 
335,  Lenfent  i.  p.  107.  Gibert  iii.  p.  SCO.  This  sentiment  was  held  by  the  early 
popes,  as  Pius,  Julius,  Zozimus,  Adrian.  See  Lannoy,  i.  p.  295,  314.  Dupin  442. 
It  was  also  the  avowed  doctrine  of  three  general  holy  councils,  namely,  of  Pisa.  Se» 
Dupin  Dissert.  404. ;  also  of  Constance ;  see  Gibert  ii.  p.  7.  Labbeus  xvi.  p.  73 : 
and  of  Basil;  see  Labb.  xvii.  236,  390.     And  Dupin  Hist.  iii.  38. 

The  second  Roman  faction  invests  the  pope  with  unlimited  sovereignty,  they  mak» 
him  a  temvoral  and  spiritual  despot,  even  the  same  precisely  in  "their  church,"  as  tb« 
grand  Ti:;k,  or  the  great  Mogul  is  in  his  realm.  He  has  power  unlimited  over  all 
bishops  and  priests;  over  all  princes,  and  kings,  and  nations;  be  they  heathen,  or 
christian  :  be  they  Protestant,  or  Roman  catholic.  Hence  he  is  superior  to  councils.. 
This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Italian  school.  They  add,  that  the  pope,  speaking  as 
pope,  ex  cathedra,  is  absolutely  infallible.  "  He  is  exempted  from  all  possibility  of 
ignorance,  error,  or  mistake T'  See  Bellarm.  iv.  5.  8.  p.  987  &.C.,  and  Dnpin 
Diss.  p.  333,  Gibert  iii.  p.  SG,  487  ;  and  Labb.  xviii.  p.  1428.  This  monstrous  doc- 
trine is  held  by  Bellarmine,  Barronius,  and  other  nineteen  leading  doctors.  It  haa 
been  also  held,  of  course,  by  all  the  popes,  except  the  early  ones ;  and  by  thret 
general  councils,  namely, — of  Florence,  which  made  the  pope  absolutely  infallible,, 
and  the  vicegerent  of  Almighty  God;  see  Labb.  xviii.  p.  1310.  Cajetan  i.  p.  10^ 
Gibert  i.  p.  93.  Also  by  the  fifth  council  of  the  Lateran.  And  the  council  of  Trent, 
after  an  exasperated  contest  between  the  Italian  bishops,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
French  and  Spanish  bishops,  on  the  other,  declared  for  this  infallibility  and  unlimited 
power  in  the  church  universal.  See  Cramp's  Text  Book;  Gibert  i.  p.  181  ;  Labb. 
XX.  p.  96. 

Here,  by  the  wa}',  we  find  infallible  doctors  against  equally  infallible  doctors; 
universities  pitted  against  universities;  councils  against  councils ;  and  popes  Dama- 
9US,  Felix,  Pius,  against  popes  Leo,  Gregory,  Urban,  Paul,  and  Sixtus  !     And  all  of 


S96  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

them  gravely  maintainiag  the  unbroken,  and  undisturbed  ujiity,  and  infalUbility  of 
Holy  Mother ! 

The  third  faction  actuall^^  raises  the  pope  to  an  equality  with  God!  This  is  not 
wonderf'il.  The  heathen  interest,  it  might  be  shown,  has  triumphed  in  Rome,  from 
the  days  of  Constantine.  They  became  wm?;ersrtZZj  christians,  when  the  ejuperor 
declared  for  chri  fiinity;  as  they  would  have  declared  themselves  Hindoo..,  had  the 
emperor  been  converted  by  the  Brahmins  !  And,  hence,  even  to  this  day,  under  the 
name  and  mask  of  the  christian  name,  there  has  been  a  regular  succession  of  pagan 
men,  and  loomen;  as  thoroughly  pagans,  idolo.tors,  and  superstitious  devotees,  as  ever 
lived,  and  moved,  and  had  their  being,  in  Rome  pngan ! 

Now,  the  ori2;inal  pagans  were  duly  accustomed  to  hear  Domifian  call  himself  in 
his  edicts,  "  Venter  Domiiius  Dtus,^^  ''your  Lord  God!'''  And  Caligula  called  him- 
eelf  Deus  maximus  et  cvtimas!  God,  the  greatest  and  best!''  Kence,  their 
lineal  descendants  in  place,  in  faith,  and  in  practice,  very  naturally  and  appropriately 
call  the  successor  of  the  Ntros,  the  Bomitians,  the  Caligulas — Noster  Domiiius  Deus 
Papa!''  Our  Lord  God  the  pope!"  This  excites  no  surprise  in  the  least.  The 
pagan  emperors  were  as  pious,  and  holy,  and  respectable,  as  any  one  pope  that  ever 
sat  on  the  old  Saracen's  stool,  humorously  called  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  since  606! 
You  know,  moreover,  that  the  canon  law  of  the  liomish  church,  says, — "  Papaiion 
est  homo!"  The  pope  is  not  a  man!  "See  Sext.  Deer.  L.  i.  Tit.  vi.  cap.  18. 
*'  The  pope  is  a  God,  who  has  all  power  in  heaven  and  in  the  earth."  "None  is  like 
Ood,  except  the  pope,  either  in  heaven  or  in  earth."  See  Turricr.  Ques.  11 :  Gianon 
10  c.  12,  Bernard,  p.  1725.  Edgar,  p.  159. 

Monstrous  as  this  really  is,  and  shocking  to  the  ears  of  piety,  there  have  beea 
doctors,  canonists,  p<ipes,  and  councils,  as  we  have  already  seen,  who  have  sanc- 
tioned t'lis  damning  blasphemy':  and  have  appropriated  to  the  spiritual  despot  of 
Rome,  the  titles,  attributes,  and  work  of  Almighty  God!  The  canon  law,  we  have 
seen,  and  ^he  fifth  Laieran  council  bestowed  these  honors  on  the  pope.  "The  Lord 
our  God,  the  pope!"  is  the  title  in  Can.  Extrav.  Tit.  14.  cap.  4.  And  this,  be  it 
remembered,  is  the  salutation  of  the  kneeling  votary,  who  stoops  to  kiss  the  pope's 
foot.  See  Edgar's  Var.  for  a  complete  specimen  of  these  names,  and  titles  of  blas- 
phemy, p.  ICO,  161. 

Hha  fourth  faction  absolutely  setting  reason,  piety,  and  common  sense,  outrageous- 
ly, at  defiance,  makes  the  pope  superior  to  God!  The  canon  Law  says, — "Habet 
plenitudinem,  &c.  He  has  the  plenitude  of  power;  he  is  above  all  law  and  right t 
he  can  change  the  substantial  nature  of  things;  and  transform  unlawful  into  lawful." 
Thuanus  vi.  p.  -397.  Gibert  ii.  p.  103.  Durand  i.  p.  50.  Edgar,  p.  161.  And  even 
Bellarmine  avov/s  this.  Premising  that  the  pope  cannot  err,  euher  in  the  decrees  of 
faith,  or  in  the  precepts  of  morals,  he  says, — "This  must  be  so, — or  else. — secun- 
do,  quia  tunc  necessario  erraret  etiam  circa  hdem.  Nam,  fides  catholica  docet  om- 
nem  virtutera  esse  bonam,  omne  vitium  esse  malum ;  si  autem  papa  erraret  praecipi- 
endo  vitia,  vel  prohibendo  virtutes,  tenerelur  ecclesia  credere  vitia  esse  bona,  et  vir- 
tutes,  malas;  nisi  vellet  contra  conscientiam  peccare."  De  Pontif.  Lib.  iv.  cap.  5. 
Tom.  i.  p.  083.  That  is, — "if  the  pope  should  err  by  enacting  vice,  or  prohibiting 
virtue,  the  church  would  be  bound  to  believe  that  vices  are  virtues,  and  that  virtues 
are  vices,  unless  she  could  be  willing  to  sin  against  her  conscience."  And  in  the 
council  of  the  Lateran,  this  sentiment  was  openly  avowed, — "that  Pope  Leo  possess- 
ed power  above  all  powers,  both  in  heaven,  and  in  earth." — See  Lubb.  xix.  p.  924.. 


ROBIAN  CATHOLIC  COItTROVERST.  297 

And  this  consummatioa  of  arrogance  and  blasphemy,  is  not  confined  to  an  obscurd 
faction  \n  Italy.  It  is  avowed  openly,  and  unblushingly  taught  in  the  most  public 
manner  by  every  pojje,  every  bishop,  every  priest.  "  They  arrogate  to  themselves 
the  power  of  creating  their  Creator,  nay,  of  communicating  to  their  underlings,  the 
power  of  moJcing  their  Maker!  Deum  cuncta  creantem,  creant."  Labb.  Tcm.  xii. 
960.  "Elevees  a  cet  honneur  supreme  de  creer  la  Createur!"  See  Bruy  Tom.  ii. 
p.  535.  Tnis,  they  assure  us,  gravely,  they  do  in  every  mass.  They  convert,  or 
create  out  of  the  wafer,  "the  body  and  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  Christ."  Now, 
that  God  can  create  himself  is  an  utter  impossibility!  But  these  sons  of  Belial,  and 
of  holy  Mother,  if  fAeir  word  may  be  in  aught  believed,  do  this  at  every  mats  making! 
They  do  make  a  common  business  of  doing,  they  say,  what  the  Creator  cannot  do! 

Now,  shall  the  throne  of  iniquity  be  established,  which  frameth  mischief  by  a  law! 
Can  the  seed  of  evil  doers  ever  be  renowned,  in  a  temporal,  or  eternal  well  being! 
Can  such  jarring  doctrine?,  such  monstrous  claims  and  usurpations,  which  ;iirow  all 
pagaai5m,  and  all  ordinary  wickedness,  and  all  councils  of  pandemonium,  uiio  the 
back  ground,  exist  long  in  power,  in  the  dominions  of  the  Holy  and  Just  One  I  No. 
no: — L  must  waste  away,  and  utterly  disappear,  as  the  fogs  and  vapors,  charged 
with  pestilence  and  death,  in  the  natural  world,  are  dispersed  by  the  benevolence  of 
the  Deity  ?  I  am,  Rev.  Fathers,  yours,  &i_. 

V/.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXVIII. 


T»    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,    AND    THE    LORDS    BISHOPS    Or    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

On  the  internal  si/mptoms  of  decay,  and  self  destruction  in  Popery. 

"  Si  qui?  dixerit,  in  ministris,  dum  sacramenta  conficiunt,  et  conferunt,  non  requiri  intenti- 
onem,  saltom  faciendi  quod  facit  ecclesia  ;  anathema  sit .'" — Concil.  Trident. 

Reverend  Fathers: — In  pursuing  this  subjectl  beg  leave  to  observe, — Sixth: — 
That  your  doctrine  of  intention,  carried  out  in  its  legitimate  tendency,  nnjtt  ruin 
your  svstt^m  of  popery,  in  the  judgment  of  every  man  who  puts  himself  to  the  trouble 
of  thinking,  for  a  moment,  on  tlie  subject.  Your  church  holds  this  doctrine: — '*  that 
the  efficncy  of  the  grace,  conveyed  by  every  one  of  your  sacraments,  depend^  upon 
the  inlentiun  of  your  officiating  priest."  If  this  intention  be  awanting  on  the  part  of 
the  priest  or  bishop,  then  is  the  sacrifice  without  grace,  without  efficacy;  ni:'l,  and 
void!  That  is  to  say, — unless  the  priest  officiating,  has  an  intention  in  his  soul,  con- 
science, and  heart,  to  do  that  thing  which  "the  church"  intends  that  he  should  do; — 
unless  hp  intends  in  his  soul  and  conscience,  to  make  that  sacrament,  and  the  thing  in 
the  sacrament,  to  be  just  that  thing  which  the  church  intends  it  to  be — then  there  is 
no  grace,  nor  efficacy  in  the  sacrament. 

Now,  that  this  doctrine  is  an  essential  article  of  your  creed,  is  evident  from  the  ex- 
tract at  the  head  of  this  letter.  Council  of  Trent,  Sess.  7.  Canon  H,— "  Si  quis  &c. 
If  any  one  shall  say  that  the  intention  is  not  required  of  the  ministers,  when  they 
make,  and  administer  the  sacraments,  let  him  be  accursed  I"  From  your  standard 
hook,— ''The  abridgement  of  the  Christian  doctrine,"''^!  copy  the  following:  "Is 


298  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

the  intention  of  the  minister  to  do  that  which  Christ  ordained,  a  condition,  withoiit 
which  the  sacraments  subsist  not  ?  Ans.  It  is  ;  as  also  the  intention  of  the  receiver, 
to  receive  what  Christ  ordained,  &c."  In  all  the  sacraments,  every  adult  receiver 
must  have  the  intention,  as  well  as  the  priest :  otherwise  the  sacrament  is  null,  and 
void !     Doyle's  Edition,  1833,  p.  76. 

Now,  it  is  astonishing  that  the  inventors  and  fabricators  of  popery,  should  have  al- 
lowed such  a  fatal  doctrine  to  be  embodied  into  their  system.  It  can  be  accounted 
for  only  on  the  singular  interposition  of  divine  Providence,  in  pity  to  his  bleeding  and 
suffering  church,  in  order  to  work  the  certain  ruin  of  popery.  Qwewi  vult  Deus  fer- 
dere,  ■prius  denientat.  Whom  God  wishes  to  destroy,  he  first  renders  infatuated. 
This  jessential  doctrine  of  intention,  established  by  the  decrees  of  the  pope,  and  the 
Trent  Council,  renders  every  thing  utterly  uncertain  in  your  church.  There  is  no 
one  sacrament,  no  priesthood,  no  canon,  no  doctrine,  in  any  degree  certain,  or  effi- 
caciou-.  It  destroys  the  pope's  supremacy,  and  the  church's  infallibility:  it  de- 
stroys your  articles  of  faith  :  it  annihilates  all  peace,  all  hope,  all  comiort !  It  shuts 
up,  or  rather  expunges  purgatory  from  the  list  of  your  fables,  and  shuts  up,  and  bolts 
your  gates  of  heaven  against  you  all,  who  believe  in  the  intention! 

And  even  some  of  3'our  own  leading  doctors  have  had  the  confession  wrung  from 
their  lips.  They  felt  the  appalling  confusion  into  which  this  doctrine  throws  your 
system.  "Nullus  celebrans  potest  evidenter  scire  &c.  "No  priest,"  says  one  of 
tJiem,  "who  celebrates,  can  know,  evidently,  whether  he  be  baptized,  or  lawfully  or- 
dained." See  Gab.  Biel,  in  Epit.  Can.  Missas.  And  Belarmine,  while  laboring  to 
overturn  another  doctrine  in  his  way,  unwittingly  is  constrained  to  speak  ihe  fruih,  in 
the  following  extraordinary  confession: — "No  man  can  be  certain,  by  the  certainty 
of  faith,  that  he  does  receive  a  true  sacrament;  because  it  depends  upon  the  irttention 
of  the  hvaister ;  and  no  one  can  see  another  man's  intention.  Sacramentum  non 
conficiaiiir  sine  intentione  ministri,  et  intentionem  alierius  nemo  videre  possit.^^  Bell. 
Lib.  Just.  cap.  8. 

Now,  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  uncontradicted  admissions  of  these  great  doc- 
tors, let  me  offer  you.  Reverend  Fathers,  a  specimen  of  the  necessary  destruction 
which  this  doctrine  works  over  the  whole  field  of  3'our  fabricated  S3'Stem.  The  in- 
novators who  got  up  the  Romish  church,  took  it  into  their  heads  to  enact  seven  sacra- 
ments :  that  is  to  say, — exactly  fve  more  than  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  only  King  of  the 
church,  did  divinely  ordain.  This  is  not  all  :  you  not  onh'  added /re  things  humo- 
rously called  sacraments, — you  have  romanized  the  only  two  out  of  all  existence,  in 
your  sect.  We  shall,  however,  let  that  pass.  We  need  not  stop  gravely  to  refute 
each,  when  we  are  on  your  suicidal  doctrine  of  intention,  which  actually  executes  on 
its  own  sacraments,  what  the  noted  Judas  did  on  himself! 

The  first  is  your  Baptism.  This  you  make  essentially  necessary  to  salvation. 
And  hence  this  question,  and  atrocious  doctrine  put  forth  in  N'our  '■^Abridgement  of 
Christian  doctrines,'''  p.  109.  "  Whither  go  infants  that  die  without  baptism  ?  Ans. 
To  that  part  of  hell,  where  they  suffer  the  pains  of  loss,  but  not  the  punishment  of 
sense;  A>fD  shall  wever  see  the  face  of  God." 

But,  by  the  doctrine  of  intention,  no  person  in  the  Roman  church  can  know  that 
he  is  baptized.  For  he  does  not  know,  certainly,  that  the  priest  who  baptized  him 
was  himself  baptized  :  he  knows  not,  certainly,  that  the  bishop  had  "the  intention" 
to  ordain  that  priest,  when  he  was  apparently  ordained.  Hence,  there  is  a  doublt 
chance  against  his  being  a  priest  at  all !     And,  finally,  he  does  not  know  whether  the 


R0MA5     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  299 

priest,  who  baptized  him  apparently,  had  the  intention  to  do  it !  Hence,  no  member 
of  the  Roman  church  can  possibly  have  either  a  certainty  of  his  baptism,  or  any 
»oHd  faith  of  being  saved  ! 

The  second  sacrament  is  "  confirmation."  It  is  not  my  design  to  stop  here  to  re- 
fute this,  or  any  other  gaudy  ceremony.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  your  elevating  it  to 
the  rank  of  a  sacrament,  and  your  using oi7  and  balm  "to  sign  your  victinio  with  tb» 
chrism,  &c."  are  acts  of  persevering  high  treason  against  our  Lord,  the  King  of  the 
Church,  who  never  breathed  one  word,  who  never  caused  to  be  written  in  all  the  holy 
Bible,  cue  sentence  originating,  or  countenancing  this  superstition.  We  need  oifer  no 
farther  refutation  than  the  doctrine  of  intention.  The  person  going  up  to  tlie  bishop 
to  be  confirmed  "by  cross,  oil,  and  balm,"  never  can  have  any  evidence  of*his  con- 
firmation, for  three  reasons.  He  cannot  certainly  know  that  the  bishop  was  baptized 
with  intention ;  nor  that  he  was  ordained  with  intention :  and  he  has  no  evidence 
whatever  that,  in  the  act  of  his  apparent  confirmation  by  rubbing  oil  and  balm  on 
him,  the  bishop  has  in  his  soul  the  intention  to  give  confirmation.  Hence  no  benefit, 
no  grace  can  arise  to  him,  from  this  rile. 

"  Holy  Orders"  is  a  third  sacrament.  By  this,  say  you,  "  a  character  is  given  ;" 
by  it  "  the  grace  is  conveyed"  to  make  a  man  a  priest,  a  bishop,  a  pope.  New,  it  is 
■vrith  3'ou  of  infinite  importance,  that  it  be  done  right.  If  any  thing  be  awanting, 
particularly,  if  the  intention  to  make  the  man  a  priest,  a  bishop,  or  a  pope,  is  really 
awanting,  then  is  this  sacrament  void.  And  the  man  apparently  a  priest,  or  a  bishop, 
is  only  a  lay  man!  And  the  flock  under  his  spiritual  care,  has  no  sacraments,  and 
thence,  no  grace  ! — For  you  know.  Fathers,  that  all  the  grace  you  ask,  or  at  all  car© 
for,  is  "  ♦hat  which  a  priest  conveys  by  intention,  through  the  seven  mcrame at s.  And, 
hence,  to  be  under  care  of  a  priest,  who  is  one  only  in  appearance,  is  to  be  exposed, 
as  you  teach,  "  to  certain  damnation'' — without  even  the  poor  chance,  or  the  poorer 
benefit  of  purgatory. 

This  IS  not  all;  as  you  can,  by  no  means,  prove  the  intention  of  the  minister,  you 
cannot  prove  that  any  one  pope  was  ever  duly  inducted  into  his  chair,  as  a  baptized 
man,  or  a  true  priest  of  the  church !  You  have  no  evidence  to  believe,  that  any  of 
your  bishops  have  been  in  "holy  orders,"  or  "ordained  with  the  intention!  And 
thence,  you  cannot  believe,  (for  you  have  no  evidence)  tliat  any  one  of  your  priests 
has  ever  been  "in  holy  orders,"  or  "ordained  with  the  intention^  There  is  not 
one  man  among  you,  guided  by  reason  and  evidence,  who  can,  for  a  moment,  believ« 
that  your  church  has  a  pope,  or  true  bishop,  or  true  priest  in  the  whole  world !  If 
any  man  can  believe  this,  he  believes  without  evidence ;  and,  therefore,  acts  unlike  a 
rational  b'ing!  Every  Roman  catholic  must,  therefore,  on  this  radical  point,  either 
cease  to  act  as  a  rational  being  ;  or  surrender  the  whole  system  of  popery. 

\  fourth  sacrament  is  the  Eucharist,  and  the  Mass.  Herein  you  worship  "the 
body  and  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  Christ."  Now,  you  admit  that  there  may  be 
defects  to  render  this  sacrament  void :  particularly,  if  the  intention  of  the  priest  is 
awanting.  If  he  does  not  intend  to  turn  the  wafer  into  Christ;  then  it  is  not  Christ, 
And  even  you  admit  that,  in  this  case,  in  worshipping  that  untransubstantiated  wafer 
— and  not  Christ,  you  are  guilty  of  idolatry!  Now,  it  is  impossible  for  any  Roman 
catholic  audience  to  have  the  evidence  of  the  priest's  intention  as  he  rapidly  mutters 
over  the  words, — ''Hoc  est  corpus  meum,"  which,  by  a  marvellous  charm,  turns  the 
real  wafer  into  the  real  Christ.  The  must  unblushing  Jesuit  dare  not  insult  his  vic- 
tims, by  even  insinuating  that  any  one  of  ihera  has  the  least  evidence  of  his  mfenfio/i, 


300  ROMAN  CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST. 

to  make  Clirist  out  of  the  wafer.  Hence,  when  they  bow  down,  and  worship  the 
Host ;  th'-y  are  worshipping  what,  they  have  not  even  the  least  shadow  of  evidence 
to  belf^ve,  is  the  true  God!  Hence,  the  whole  Romish  church  is  actually  worship- 
ping what  they  have  no  evidence,  in  the  least  degree,  to  believe  is  God,  in  the  wafer- 
That  is,  the  Romish  sect  are  reduced  to  this  dilemma;  they  either  believe  without 
any  evidence;  and  thence  act  unlike  rational  beings,  or,  they  are  guilty  of  the  mor- 
tal sin  of  idolatry ! 

But,  to  be  brief, — let  my  readers  be  kind  enough  to  apply  this  form  of  argument  to 
the  ffth,  and  sixth  popish  sacraments,  of  Penance  and  Extreme  Unction;  and 
they  will  arrive  at  the  same  result:  that  is, — the  doctrine  of  intention  takes  away 
all  certainty,  all  faith,  all  peace  from  the  dying  man,  in  the  article  of  death.  Even 
extreme  unction  brings  him  no  relief.  He  is  told,  it  is  true,  to  believe  that  the  anoint- 
ing hiio  with  oil,  by  the  holy  priest,,  '^ conveys  grace  to  his  sow/;"  and  makes  him 
**readtj  to  die.''''  But,  he  has  not  the  least  shadow  of  a  consoling  ])roof  that  the  priest 
has  the  intention.  He  may  tell  him  so;  but  even  there,  the  intention  to  tell  the  truth 
may  it^'^lf  be  wanting.  He  lives  in  a  cloud  of  uncertainty ;  and  dies,  alas!  in  men- 
tal confusion,  and  the  dreariness  of  a  dark,  dark  night:  and  sinks  into  an  unknown 
state  !  ■  te  has  strayed  far  from  his  God,  and  Savior,  being  seduced  by  the  unprin- 
cipled slaves  of  Antichrist,  who  have  rejected  the  gospel,  and  enveloped  themselves, 
and  their  victims,  in  an  endless  mist  of  uncertainty,  and  darkness;  in  order — Ohi 
•hame  on  human  villainy, — to  trade  in  souls, — and  barter  heaven's  holy  light ;  and 
«ell  God's  unsold  pathway  to  paradise,  for  filthy  lucre ! 

Lastly,  Matrimony  is  a  seventh  sacrament  of  popery.  This  very  novel  sacrament 
*' conveys  grace  to  those  who  enter  into  it;  and  yet,  Holy  Mother  scandalously  denies 
this  potent  instrument  of  "conveying  its  grace"  to  the  one  class  of  men  in  her,  who 
of  all  other  men  under  the  sun,  do  stand  the  most  in  need  of  it, — 1  mean  the  priests  J 
Now, — for  I  let  this  pass, — by  your  doctrine  of  intention,  there  is  not  one  married 
couple  in  our  city,  or  in  all  the  land,  of  all  the  Roman  catholic  church,  that  can  exhi- 
bit even  the  sUghtest  shadow  of  evidence  that  they  are  lawfully  married. 

For,  unless  the  officiating  priest  had  the  intention  m  his  soul,  and  conscience,  at  the 
nuptial  ceremony,  to  make  the  irian  and  woman  then  standing  before  him,  husband 
and  wife,  they  are  not  married!  This  is  not  all.  You  require  intention  in  the 
receiver,  as  well  as  in  the  minister  officiating.  If  the  bridegroom,  as  he  takes  the 
woman's  hand,  does  not  intend  in  soul  and  conscience,  to  make  that  person  liis  wife, 
they  are  not  married !  And,  to  crown  the  chapter  of  chances  against  the  luckless 
couple, — if  the  bride  does  not,  at  that  moment,  intend,  in  her  soul,  and  conscience, 
to  make  that  man  her  husband,  they  are  not  married  !  Here  are  three  chances  against 
one  /  And  no  person,  no,  not  a  catholic  in  all  Christendom,  can  prove  either  the 
priest's,  the  groom's,  or  the  bride's  intention!  Hence,  no  couple  in  all  the  hmits  of 
*'  catholicity,"  has  even  the  shadow  of  evidence  that  they  are  not  living  in  the  mortal 
sin  of  concubinage !  And  if  they  should  die  in  that  mortal  sin,  they  are  doomed  for 
ever  to  hell,  without  the  benefit  of  purgatory  I 

This  appalling  doctrine  is  calculated  to  throw  civil  society  into  the  greatest  disor- 
der. One  evil  growing  out  of  it,  is  this: — Divorces  are  sued  out  on  tbis  assumption, 
in  Roman  catholic  countries.  A  man,  or  a  woman  goes  into  the  proper  court,  in 
Rome,  for  instance,  and  declares,  on  oath,  that,  at  the  marriage  ceren;0Py,  he,  or  she 
had  not  the  intention  to  be  married: — Or,  a  villain,  who  "married"  a  young  person 
whom  he  could  not  otherwise  gain  to  his  wishes, — needs  only  to  go  into  a  ghostly 


KOMAX    CATHOLIC    COKTROVERST.  301 

court  at  Rome,  and  swear  that  he  did  not  intend  to  marry  that  young  wonian  when 
the  nuptials  were  solemnized, — and  the  apparent  marriage  is  dissolved ! 

I  refer  my  reader,  for  proof  of  this,  to  every  intelligent  traveller  who  has  resided, 
any  time,  in  Rome,  and  has  taken  the  pains  to  visit  these  courts,  by  a  priests'  favor, 
and  introduction.  I  refer  also  to  Bishop  Burnet  on  the  thirty-nine  articles,  Article 25. 
He  narrates  wnat  ho  witnessed  in  Rome,  him.^clf:  and  he  adds  "that  such  divorces 
are  very  frequent  there."  I  refer  also  to  T.  Wardell's  valuable  Letters,  on  Intention, 
&C.1).  1.3.  N.York,  1830. 

Seventh  : — Your  hostility  to  the  progress  of  knowledge,  and  the  sciences,  v.  ill  worlc 
the  downfall  of  popery. 

The  system  of  popery  is  hostile  to  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  sciences, — except  only, 
painting  and  sculpture,  which  are,  in  a  melancholy  manner,  dragged  in,  to  minister 
their  enchanting  powers,  to  an  idolatrous  religion,  bloodier,  and  more  destructive  ilmn 
paganism  !  The  evidence  of  this  hostility,  is  found  in  the  Inc^uisilion  ;  and  the  stern, 
unyielding  hidex  Exjmrgatorius,  by  which  almost  every  elm  sic  author  of  Britain, 
America,  and  France  is  prohibited.  There  is  scarcely  one  of  all  the  classic,  English 
authors  which  a  Roman  catholic  is  allowed  to  read.  Milton  is  a  doomed  author; 
Young  also;  Cowperis  in  the  Index  ;  Watts  too;  our  historians ;  our  immortalJohn- 
son  !  All  the  renowned  theologians  of  England,  of  Scotland,  of  America,  of  France, 
are  under  the  ban.  And  no  Roman  catholic  dare,  under  pain  of  purgatory,  open  a 
single  volume  in  a  Protestant's  whole  library  of  our  most  approved  wriiers. 

This  is  a  point  but  little  known,  and  l)y  the  Romish  priests  usually  concealed  from 
Protestants;  and  most  stoutly  denied  by  them.ostof  ihem!  But  you,  Fathers,  know 
how  true  this  is. 

Even  in  our  enhglitened  da\-, — and  in  our  city,  no  priest  dares,  without  a  written'per- 
mission  from  his  bishop,  look  into  a  book  written  by  a  heretic, — thai  is,  a  Protestant! 
If  the  bishop  allows  any  one  to  do  it  without  this  license,  he  breaks  his  solemn  oath, 
and  violates  the  law  of  Rome  laid  down  in  the  Index  !  No  man  in  your  communion 
dares  to  think  for  himself,  or  even  use  his  own  conscience,  witliout  priestly  permission 
and  dictation.  Then,  what  blunders  in  sci'^nce,  has  Infallibility  fallen  into !  In  settling 
the  place  of  purgatory,  for  instance,  we  have  seen  that  pope  Gregory,  the  sai;it,  and 
Bellarmine,  and  even  Dr.  Rosaccio  placed  hell,  and  purgatory  in  the  earth's  centre  ; 
at  a  distance  of  18300  1-2  miles  below  the  surface.  This  has  never  been  corrected  ; 
nor  even  apologized  fori     Infallihility,  right  or  wrong,  can  never  correct  itself! 

It  is  very  well  knov/n  that  the  famous  Galileo  was  formally  condemned  and 
punished,  simply  for  daring  to  invade  the  Romish  darkness,  by  teaching  that  the  earth 
is  a  sphere,  turning  on  its  axis,  and  moving  round  the  sun.  Here  I  shall  present,  an 
extract  from  the  sentence  of  the  Inquisition  of  Rome,  in  1633,  acting  under  the  eye  of 
pope  Urban,  "the  infallible  vicar  of  God."  "  Whereas,  you  Galileo,  aged  70  years, 
were  denounced, — for  holding  as  true,  a  false  doctrine  taught  by  many,  that  the  sun 
is  immovable  in  the  centre  of  rhe  world,  and  that  the  earth  moves;  therefore,  this 
holy  tribunal,  desirous  of  providing  against  the  disorder,  and  mischief,  proceeding  and 
increasing,  to  the  detriment  of  the  holy  faith, — by  the  desire  of  his  holiness,  the 
two  propositions,  are  qualified  by  the  theological  qualifers,  as  follows: : — 

1st.- The  proposition  that  the  sun  is  the  centre  of  the  world,  and  immovable  from 
its  place,  is  absurd,  pliilosophically  false,  and  formally  heretical;  because  expressly 
contrary  to  the  holy  scriptures.  2d.  The  proposition  that  the  earth  is  not  the  centre 
of  ths  world,    nor  immovable;  but  that  it  moves,   and  also  has  a  diurnal  motion,  is 

27 


JO^  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    GOJCTROVERST.- 

aUo  absurd,  philosophically  false,  and  theologically  considered,  at  least,  erroneous  Is 
faith."     See  The  Life  of  Galileo,  published  at  Boston,  1832,  pp.  179,  180. 

Such  was  the  decision  of  pope  Urban,  "i^e  infallible  head''  of  the  church,  and 
his  lord  cardinals,  and  doctors  I  And  this  was  as  late  as  1633 !  Pope  Zachary  hady 
indeed,  pronounced  his  "  infallible"  ban  against  Virgil,  a  Bavarian  bishop,  for  pre- 
suming to  teach  the  shocking  heresy,  that  "  there  are  men  living  on  the  opposite  side 
cf  the  earth,  from  us."  "  If  he  persist  in  the  heresy/'  says  he  to  his  legate,  "  strip 
him  of  his  priesthood:  and  drive  him  from  the  church,  and  altars  of  God!"  See 
Life  of  Galileo,  p.  192.  But,  then,  this  "infallible  pope"  pronounced  the  curse 
against  Virgil,  and  his  antipodes  in  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century,  when  ther«" 
were  no  hereties  to  pour  light  upon  the  eyes  of  pop^s  and  infallibles!  There  can  be 
no  excuse,  therefore,  for  the  ghostly  judges  of  Galileo,  but  the  invincible  and  incur-' 
able  depravity  of  popery.  And,  unless  you  also  be  under  its  influence,  you  will 
excuse  the  honest  warmth  of  the  bosom  friend  of  Galileo,  namely  Micanzio,  who- 
escclaimed  of  pope  Urban,  and  tbe  other  tyrants  who  condemned  Galileo,-^"!  shall 
devote  these  unnatural,  and  godless  hypocrites,  to  a  hundred  thousand  devils  !" 

It  is  right  here  to  remark,  that  this  doctrine,  and  thes^  sentences  of  pope  Zachary,- 
and  Urban,  against  bishop  Virgil,  and  Galileo,  stand  unrepealed  by  pope,  bishop,  or 
doctor,  to  this  day,  in  the  Romish  church.  Hence  you,  and  the  pope,  and  all  yowr 
priests  sustain  it,  and  avouch  it,  as  much  as  Zachary,  and  Urban  did.  For  no  way 
has  yet  been  invented  to  correct  one  infallible^  by  another  infallible  ! 

Hence,  upon  the  whole,  as  the  light  of  science,^  and  as  the  influence  of  virtue,  and 
true  religion,  are  spread  over  the  regenerated  nations :  and  as  knowledge,  like  the 
rays  of  the  dazzling  and  glorious  sun,  gains  an  irresistible  ascendency  over  the  whole 
world,  popery,  as  a  system, — the  enemy  of  God's  glory,  and  of  man's  happiness 
must  necessarily  fall; — and  fall,  to  rise  no  more!  And  your  Reverences  will,  no' 
doubt,  unite  with  me  in  saying, — Amen,  Aif d  amExV  ! 

I  am.  Rev.-  Fathers,  yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXIX. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,    AND    THE     LORDS    BISHOPS    OF    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLtr 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

On  the  internal  symptoms  of  decay,  and  certain  ruin,  in  Popery. 

"  So  I  went  into  the  chambers  of  imagerv  and  saw  ;  and  beheld  every  form  of  creeping 
things;  and  abominable  beasts;  and  all  the  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel;  pourtrayed  upon 
the  wall,  round  about." — Ezek.  viii. 

Reverend  Fathers:— I  have  had  the  honor  of  drawing  your  attention  to  a  few  ©f 
the  more  striking  symptoms  of  decay  and  certain  ruin  in  popery.  I  beg  leave  to  spe- 
cify a  fourth  one,  vividly  displayed  in  your  religious  use  of  Relics.  You  believe  ia 
their  divine  efficacy;  you  worship  them;  you  maintain  a  brisk  and  lucrative  traffic  in 
them. 

Now,  when  truth  and  sound  philosophy,  in  their  irresistible  progress,  shall  opea 
tiie  eyes  of  the  blind,  the  contempt  and  abhorrence  of  all  men  will  be  poured  upon 
this  system  of  imposture. 


9.0MXS     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  303 

One  naturally  feels  astonished  that  a  system  of  darkness,  emerging  from  the  Dark 
Ages,  should  find  a  moment's  rest  for  the  soles  of  its  feet,  amid  the  flood  of  light  poured 
out  on  the  present  age.  We  alluded  before  to  the  influence  of  astronomy  and  geogra- 
phy putting  to  flight  the  systems  of  paganism  founded  in  principles  of  the  darkest 
«ges.  Can  a  child,  initiated  into  these  sciences,  ever  be  seduced  to  believe  in  a  reli- 
gious system  tliat  the  world  is  a  flat  body,  and  rests  on  the  back  of  a  huge  turtle/ 
Can  a  child  believe  the  gravely  related  Romish  doctrines,  in  many  instances  as  su- 
premely absurd  as  this.  Pope  Gregory  the  Great  and  saint,  places  hell  and  his  pur- 
gator}'  in  the  hollow  centre  of  the  earth!  Cardinal  Bellarmine  advocates  the  same 
theory.  Gregory  adduces  the  spouting  flames  of  /Etna  and  Vesuvius  in  proof  of  this, 
for  these  come  from  hell  and  purgatory !  There  is,  to  be  sure,  one  redeeming  truth 
in  this  theory:  ne  placed  the  opening  into  these  infernal  regions  in  a  correct  latitude; 
that  is  to  say, — in  his  own  immediate  vicinity, — the  seat  of  "the  Beast." 

Dr.  Rosaccio  improves  on  this  theory,  and  fills  up  the  measure  of  its  glory.  H« 
also  makes  a  hell  and  a  purgatory  in  the  earth's  centre.  But  let  our  infant  scholars 
mark  the  Romish  geography.  He  makes  purgatoiy^xactly  2550  1-2  miles  below 
the  earth's  surface ;  and  15,750  above  hell.  By  adding  these,  we  find  that  the  popish 
doctors  make  it  exactl}-  18,300  ]-2  miles  to  the  central  cavity  of  the  earth:  whereas 
the  earth  is  only  8000  miles  from  pole  to  pole,  through  the  centre !  I  refer  to  Bellar- 
mine, De  Purg.  Lib.  ii.  cap.  6^  in  Tom.  i.  mihi,  p  p.  1923  &:c.     And  Edgar,  p.  536. 

Yet  all  this  is  rational  and  sublime,  in  comparison  with  the  priests'  world  of  Re- 
lics, set  forth  on  the  altar,  and  around  the  chapel,  and  in  their  variegated  chambers 
of  imagery .' 

And,  then,  such  Relics  !  And  held  up,  too,  for  the  religioits  worship  and  homagt 
of  human  beings  I  Why,  they  would  absolutely  derange  the  gravity  of  our  protestant 
children!  Let  us  notice  a  few  of  them  which  garnish  and  consecrate  your  sanctua- 
ries; and,  thence,  draw  in  large  revenues  to  your  "Immaculate  Mother"  in  Europe. 
I  shall  not  rehearse  the  wondrous  bits  of  wood  of  the  cross ;  and  the  four  nails,  by 
which  our  Savior  was  nailed  to  the  cross.  Like  the  four  heads  of  John  the  Baptist, 
in  France,  there  are  several  duplicates  of  these  four  i(/cnh'caZ  nails!  You  have  "the 
parings  of  St.  Edmunds's  toes,"  and  several  chapels  have  some  of  the  coals  which 
roasted  St.  Laurence !  Among  the  Glastonbury  relics,  you  show  us  the  identical 
stones  which  the  devil  tempted  our  Lord  to  turn  into  bread  !  In  France,  Spain,  and 
Flanders,  they  have  eight  arms  of  St.  Matthew  !  Of  course  antiquarians  must  bless 
you  fur  the  amazing  discovery  that  he  had  40  fingers !  And  the  author  of  one  list  of 
relics,  in  the  possession  of  the  late  Mr.  McGavin,  declares  that  he  had  seen  three 
arms  of  St.  Luke.  In  the  Lateran  church  in  Rome,  they  show  the  very  Ark  of  the 
Lord,  made  by  Moses;  and  the  rod  with  which  he  did  his  miracles!  In  the  same 
church,  they  have  the  entire  table  on  which  our  Lord  eat  the  first  Supper.  And  in 
Spain,  and  in  Flanders,  they  have  genuine  fragments  of  the  table!  In  the  same 
church  they  have  the  entire  heads  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  And  inBilboa,  there  is 
a  largo  ^art  of  Peter's  skull,  in  the  possession  of  the  Augustines;  and  a  large  frag- 
ment of  Paul's  skull,  in  the  convent  of  the  Franciscans!  In  St.  Peter's  church  at 
Burgos,  they  have  the  cross  of  the  good  thief:  '''•somewhat  worm  eaten;'''  with  Judas' 
lantern;  and  the  very  dice  which  the  soldiers  used  in  casting  lots  for  our  Lord's  gar- 
ments! They  show  also  the  tail  of  Balaam's  ass!  In  the  same  place,  they  have  a 
little  of  the  manna  in  the  wilderness;  and  a  few  blossoms  of  Aaron's  rod!  They 
have  relics  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob:  and  also  the  Virgin's  conjb;  and  a  comb 


30i  ROMAIC    CATHOLIC    COXTROVERST, 

of  each  of  the  12  Apostles,  ^^ nearly  as  good  as  neiv."'  They  have  a  part  of  Sf" 
Mark's  borly;  with  an  arm,  and  a  finger  of  St.  Ann,  the  Virgin's  mother.  The  cata- 
logue, also,  shows  the  Virgin's  identical  veil ;  and  St.  Patrick's  staff,  with  which  he 
expelled  the  toads  and  vipers  from  Ireland!  They  have,  also,  what  is  very  appro- 
priate in  a  den  of  traitors,  a  hit  of  the  roi)t  with  which  Judas  hanged  himself!  There 
is,  also,  some  of  the  Virgin's  hair;  with  several  vials  of  her  milk.  x\nd  what  is  a 
rare  and  devotional  thing,  they  show  a  little  butter,  and  a  bit  of  cheese  (very  rare,) 
mado  out  o^  her  milk,  which  never  decays!  !  !  See  Philos.  Library  for  1818;  and 
Glasgow  Prot.  chap.  52. 

In  the  Cathedral  of  Glasgow,  they  had  a  choice  museum  of  these  adored  relics. 
For  instance,  the}'^  had  a  bit  of  St.  Bartholomew's  skin  :  and  the  Virgin's  girdle  :  and 
a  bone  of  St.  Magdalene:  with  four  vials  of  the  Virgin's  milk !  Also  a  vial  of  St. 
Keutigern's  blood;  and  a  bit  of  the  manger  where  onr  Lord  lay;  and  St.  Martin's 
cloak,  "  rather  moth  eaten.'^  See  Beauties  of  Scotland,  vol.  iii.  p.  217 ;  Glasgow 
Prot.  ch.  53. 

In  1663,  Pope  Alexander  FII.  sent  into  France,  three  chests  of  holy  relics  for 
"  Hospital  Church."  They  were  bonnd  with  silk  cords,  and  sealed  with  Cardinal 
Ginetti's  seal.  On  the  opening  of  the  rclico.  with  much  pomp  and  devotion,  there- 
was  found  in  the  third  chest,  the  heofl  of  St.  Fortunatus.  There  unfortunate!)'  hap- 
l)ened  to  be  present  a  medical  gentleman,  who,  with  a  heretical  eye,  perceived  a  bit 
cf  painted  cloth  above  the  ear.  This  led  him  to  exaniire  the  skull;  he  scraped  it,, 
and  pierced  it  with  his  knife.  And  lo !  the  holy  relic,  pronounced  to  be  the  true  bkull 
of  the  saint,  by  your  infallible  head  himself,  turned  out  to  be  a  piece  of  pasteboard .' 
See  Archbp.  Tenison's  Reply  to  Mr.  Pulton,  ]).  72.  Edit.  1687. 

Now,  if  ever  tliere  was  a  thing  called  a  liisiis  natura',  verily,  here  is  one!  And  it 
will  be  duly  and  gratefully  chronicled  by  the  Antiquarian  Society!  And  I  call  the 
attention  of  our  amateurs  to  it,  not  merely  in  its  physical,  but  in  its  moral  bearing. 
^Ve  have  here  poniifcal  authority,  from  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  that  a  man  can,  in  the 
most  perfect  manner,  MSI  the  \\(\y  functions  of  a  RoiTian  priest;  and  be  a  Roman 
saint, — and  ye^  after  all,  have  only  a  pasteboard  skull,  and  brains  to  correspond ! 

There  was  a  famous  crucifix  at  Bexley,  in  Kent,  Old  England.  Its  eyes,  lips,  and 
head  moved  gracioush%  at  the  approach  of  its  votaries,  to  pay  their  adoration  to  ir» 
and  the  holy  relics.  At  the  Reformation,  says  Hum.e,  the  bishop  of  Rochester 
broke  off  its  head,  and  showed  to  the  people  its  springs  and  whee^-,  by  which  it  w^as 
moved.  Henry  III.,  king  of  England,  used  to  sport  a  rare  an.i  precious  relic — no  less 
than  a  vial  of  your  Lord^s  blood,  sent  to  him  from  Jerusalem..  He  used  to  show  it 
devoutly  to  all  the  great  men  of  his  court!  King  Canute  very  devoutly  paid  the 
priests  one  hundred  talents  of  silver,  and  one  of  gold,  for  the  old  black  withered  arm 
of  St.  Augustine.  My  authors  do  not  inform  me  what  these  honest  traffickers  in  hu- 
man limbs,  charged  the  kings  of  France,  and  Spain,  and  Naples,  for  similar  arms  of 
that  Afi-ican  father!  In  the  Lateran  church  at  Rome  are  "some  planks  of  the  cove- 
nant;" in  St.  Paul's,  are  Paul's  body,  and  such  a  mmiber  of  vials  of  holy  blood, 
tung  round  the  walls,  that  a  stranger  is  apt  to  think  he  has  got,  by  some  mistake,  into 
an  apothecary's  shop  !  Here  is,  also,  the  very  pillars  on  which  the  cock  crew,  when 
Peter  denied  our  Lord!  See  Owen*s  Travels,  vol.  ii.  p.  52.  In  another  church,  is 
shown  the  comb  of  the  said  cock,  that  set  Peter  a  weeping.  In  Paris,  at  St.  Penys, 
they  show  a  real  likeness  of  the  queen  of  Sheba  ;  with  SolomGn''s  drinking  cup  ;  ancj 
Judas'  brass  lantern,  full  of  chrystals.     Here  ia,  also,  the  linen  with  which  Chiisi 


ROMAlf    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  305 

wiped  the  disciple's  feet ;  with  a  bit  o.'  the  wa.er  pots  of  Cana  I  See  Evelyn's  Me- 
moirs. In  St.  Basil's  Chapel,  at  Bruges,  Campbell,  (Journey,  p.  39,  quarto,)  saw 
the  sponge  lull  of  blood  which  Joseph  of  Ariraathea  wiped  oil  our  Savior!  At 
Aix  la  Chapelle,  he  saw  the  very  chemise  of  the  Virgin  ;  the  cord  that  bound  Christ, 
and  some  of  St.  Stej)hen*s  blood  nicely  preserved  in  a  hit  of  earth,  on  which  it 
dropped  ;  In  the  Cathedral  of  Mnnster,  Mrs.  Piozzi  saw  the  very  sword  which  St. 
Paul  wore  !  And  behind  the  high  altar,  is  a  backgammon  tahle^  which  belonged  to 
John  the  Baptist,  or,  as  the  keeper  said,  "to  some  baptist P'  In  Upsal  they  have 
Judas'  bag,  and  one  of  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver;  with  the  identical  pair  of  red  slip- 
pers, in  which  the  Virgin  paid  a  visit  to  her  cousin  !  See  Wraxall's  Northern  tour, 
p,  127.  In  the  church  of  Durh^^m,  they  showed  the  teeth,  and  the  head  of  St. 
Aiden  :  and  what  is  a  very  rare  matter,  two  eggs  of  the  griffin!  See  Smith's  Beda, 
Append.  No.  15. 

And,  to  crown  the  climax,  I  shall  give  an  extract  from  Stephen's  Traite  preparatif 
a  VApologie  pour  Herodote,  chap.  39.  He  relates  that  a  monk  of  St.  Anthony  saw- 
"a  bit  of  the  finger  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  (piite  sound  :"  also  the  nose  of  the  angel  that 
appealed  to  St,  Francis :  and  "a  finger  nail  of  a  cherub  !"  There  were,  moreover, 
"a  rib  of  the  word  made  jizsh!''  and  a  feather  of  the  angel  Gabriel  1  And,  besides 
the  vial  of  St.  Joseph's  breath,  caught  by  an  angel,  as  he  was  cleaving  wood, — there 
is  '•  a  hem  of  his  garment."  Another  scarce  relic  is  this, — "a  quantity  of  the  iden- 
tical rays  of  the  star  v.-hich  led  the  wise  men  to  our  infant  Savior  I"  There  are  also 
the  identical  square  buckler,  and  the  identical  steel  sword  of  St.  Michael,  which  he 
employed  in  his  battle  with  the  devil :  together  with  a  vial  of  his  sweat,  which  he, 
the  angel,  sweated  on  that  occasion  !  "  All  these  have  I  devoutly  brought  home  with 
me," — added  the  monk.  See  the  Clavis  Calendaria,  vol.  ii.  p.  56,  &c.  :  and  the 
Recreat.  Magaz.  Bost.  Edit.,  p.  384,  386. 

I  hold  up  this  system  before  the  eyes  of  the  x\merican  people.  Behold,  fellow  citi- 
zens, a  system  of  unparalleled  knavery,  which  blushes  not  to  palm  these  lying  ivonders 
on  the  ignorant  part  of  our  communit\%  even  as  if  ihe  reign  of  the  Dark  Ages  had  not 
yet  passed  av/ay  !  Here  is  a  system,  whicji,  worse  than  paganism  in  Greece  and 
Rome,  holds  up  these  solemn  puerilities  of  gods  and  rotten  bones,  as  objects  of  reh- 
gious  worsliipin  their  chapels;  which  compels  its  victims  in  all  catholic  lands. — yes, 
and  in  our  ov/n  enlightened  land,  io  fall  on  theii*  knees,  and  worship  these  motley 
remnants  of  bones,  and  garments,  aad  angels,  and  dust:  and  yield  up  their  property 
to  the  immeasurable  exactions  of  these  gbostly  traficers:  which  robs  its  votaries  of 
their  last  shiUing  to  sustain  this  villainous  imposition,  and  throws  them  on  the  public 
charities  of  our  country;  and  plunders  ihem  of  even  the  pittance  of  supplies,  yielded 
by  public  charity,  to  eke  out  the  imposture  to  the  closing  scene  of  their  ruined  vic- 
tims I  O  merciful  heaven!  can  such  a  curse  be  permitted  to  scourge  the  human 
family  forever!  How  long  shall  these  deceptions,  and  lying  wonders,  and  workings 
of  Satan,  find  a  place  among  civilized  men!  Not  long,  my  fellov/ citizens.  The 
rising  light  will  chase  away  this  darkness :  these  ludicrous,  yet  blasphemous  absurdities 
are  hastening,  by  irresistible  necessity,  its  irrecoverable  downfall !  And  from  all 
lands,  the  joyful  signal  will  be  uttered  :  Babylon  is  fallkn, — is  falle>- I 

I  am,  Rev.  Fathers,  yours,  &c. 

W.  C,  B< 


306  »0MA5    CATH0L1G    COPfTROVEKST- 


LETTER  XXX. 

TO    THE   LORD    ARCilBlSHOP,     AND    THE    LORDS   BISHOPS,     OF    THE     ROMAIC     CATHOLICT 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Popery  essentially  despotic  ;  and  incompatible  with  the  free  institutions  of  our  republic.. 

"Timeo  Danaos  et  dona  ferentes! 
O  Teucri,  lie  credite  eqiio !" 

1  have  mv  motives,  Reverend  Fathers,  in  spreading  out  all  your  ''solemn  tillee,'" 
before  our  plain  republican  citizens.  Your  titles  indicate  the  genius  of  your  hierarcliy  ; 
that  lordly  and  absolute  despotism,  which  has  rested,  as  a  horrid  incubu «,  on  the 
breast  of  slee])ing  Europe,  for  so  many  centuries  :  and  which  you  are  seeking  to  press- 
on  the  bosom  of  our  republic ! 

I  disclaim  all  personal  reflections,  and  even  allusions.  Indeed,  Reverend  Fathers,. 
both  you,  and  your  head  the  pope,  we  deem  too  humble,  and  too  little  known  among: 
us,  to  be  the  subject  of  any  personal  reflections,  in  the  presence  of  the  people  of  this 
great  republic.  Without  bating  one  jot  of  your  consequence,  which  you  borrow  and 
import  from  Rome,  the  whole  of  your  hierarchy  and  ])riesthood  in  our  republic,  are, 
in  fact,  as  the  fly  on  the  horn  of  the  noble  bull,  mentioned  in  the  fable.  You  can  do 
no  lasting  mischief,  were  our  fellow  citizens  only  awake,  to  the  inestimable  value  ©f 
their  civil  and  religious  liberties.  Our  only  dangers  are  these : — the  lethargy  of  our 
republic,  and  the  unwearied  efTorts  of  foreign  Roman  catholic,  and  despotic  powers, 
to  invade  us,  and  corrupt  the  fountain  of  public  opinion.  Disclosures  have  been 
made,  which  establish  the  fact,  that  an  extensive  conspiracy  is  formed  by  the  des- 
pots of  Europe,  to  make  a  dangerous  attack  on  our  {ree  institutions.  This  they  are 
doing  under  the  garb  of  the  old  and  only  religion,  called  Roman  catholicisvi.  They 
dare  not  send  in  among  us,  their  political  emissaries,  under  the  name  of  "poHticians'' 
to  teach  us,  and  our  children,  their  Romish  politics,  and  despotism  !  This  would  b& 
too  barefaced.  It  would  ruin  their  cause  sooner,  than  if  "  Satan  transformed  into  an 
angel  of  light,"  did  shove  the  cloven  foot  and  horns,  out  from  beneath  his  ill  adjusted 
robe,  and  ma^k  i  But,  all  the  world  linows  that  the  order  of  Jesuits  was  revived  in 
1814,  by  pope  Pius  VII.,  for  the  ex[)iess  purpose  of  gaining  ghostly  power  in  Europe  ; 
and  especially  to  gain  over  the  United  States..  And  latterly,  the  Roman  catholic 
princes  of  Europe  have  entered  deeply,  and  zealously  into  tlue  enterprise.  These,  it 
is  trne,  care  little  for  the  pope,  and  far  less  for  his  system  of  inventions,  which  he  is 
plearcd,  facetiously,  to  call  the  christian  religion!  The  truth  is,  that  as  men,  enter- 
taining their  own  private  opinions,  neither  pope,  nor  the  Roman  catholic  princes,  in 
Europe,  ever  gravely  aftected  to  believe  in  the  system  of  the  Romish  religion- 
Viewed  strictly  as  a  regular  system  of  priestcraft  and  tyranny,  it  is  a  wretched  substi- 
tute for  Christianity,  and  to  it,  strictly  speaking,  as  such,  is  applicable  all  that  Voltaire 
and  Hume  wrote.  In  their  ignorance  of  the  holy  Bible,  they  mistook  popery  for 
CHRISTIANITY.  So  does  the  pope  ;  so  do  his  ghostly  court ;  so  do  the  despotic  princes- 
of  Europe. 

But,  nevertheless,  this  system, — a  compound  of  absurdities,  pomp,  and  puerility, 
as  it  is, — his  been  an  admirable  tool  in  tyrants'  hands.  It  amuses  lounging  cour- 
tiers and  sinecure  professors,  and  keeps  them  out  of  political  plots  :  it  edifies  the  weak 


nOMAV    CATHOLIC    COIf  TIIOTXRST.  30  7 

minded ;  and  feeds  the  pious  ignorance  of  fanatics  :  it  lodges  unlimited  power  with 
prie.-is  and  tyrants.  And,  then,  it  frowns  on  no  damning  crimes  ;  it  allows  men  to  serve 
the  devil,  the  world,  and  the  flesh,  to  their  heart's  content,  as  long  as  they  live  ;  and, 
then,  for  a  small  consideration, — (they  cannot  take  their  money  with  them  at  any 
rate,)  it  shrieves these  children  of  the  devil,  and  gives  them  a  passport  to  glory. 
Moreover,  it  fills  the  coffers  of  bishops,  and  monks,  who  have  made  vows  of  poverty  r 
it  feeds  an  army  of  twenty  millions  of  priests  and  monks,  who  are  ready,  at  an  hour's 
warning,  to  march  to  the  onset  agr.inst  knowledge  and  liberty,  even  to  the  ends  of  the- 
earth  I  And,  finally,  it  strikes  a  very  salutary  terror  into  the  trodden  down  poj.ulace, 
which  loves  iniquity,  and  fears  the  flames  of  purgatory,  which  are  sold  by  the 
priests ! 

It  is,  therefore,  consummately  adapted  to  create,  and  sustain  despotism,  on  the 
largest  scale.  In  the  pursuit  of  his  object,  the  pope  haa  never  ceased  to  add  as  proper 
instruments,  the  power,  and  influence  of  Roman  catholic  sovereigns,  to  that  of  his 
army  of  ghostly  militia,  the  cardinals,  bishops,  monks,  and  priests.  And  these  Roman 
catholic  princes,  who  relieve  their  grave,  filial  obedience,  by  fits  of  the  merriest 
mockery  of  iiim,  and  all  his  array  of  '''  shavelings  ;^^  and  send  him,  and  them,  daily, 
"to  the  devil," — over  their  cups, — do  in  their  turn  employ  him,  his  bisho})S,  and 
priests,  as  their  political  minions,  to  crush,  still  deeper,  their  wretched,  and  plundered 
subjects ;  and  to  prevent  the  progress  of  light,  and  knowledge  among  them  ;  that  their 
bondage  may  be  perpetuated  ;  and,  finally,  to  overturn  every  free  goA'crnmcnt  under 
heaven ! 

There  is  nothing  to  which  these  despots  of  Europe  look  with  more  uneasiness,  and 
real  pain,  than  to  the  progress  of  liberty,  and  the  establishment  of  self  government 
on  our  continent.  Especially  is  our  Republic  the  object  of  their  unmitigated  and  un- 
subdur.ble  hatred.  I  do  not  say  that  the  people,  their  subjests,  do  so  view  us.  They- 
admire,  or  envy  us.  But  the  princes,  and  tyrants  who  have  put  the  screws  on  their 
people  in  church  establishments,  and  in  state  usurpations,  do  view  our  republic  with 
immeasurable  vexation  and  hatred.  Hence  the  present  conspiracy  ;  and  combined 
eiForts  to  execute  that  conspiracy,  by  these  European  despots.  "And  the  Jesuits, — 
who  have  convulsed  every  nation  and  government  in  Europe,  they  have,  as 
the  last  resort,  selected  as  the  means  to  accomplish  our  ruin.  And  every  man,  in 
our  Uuion,  who  has  eyes  to  see,  and  has  looked  steadily^n,  for  a  few  years  past,  has 
perceived  that  an  army  of  Jesuits  are  at  work  over  the  land.  The  effort  now  made, 
— ^and  I  implore  my  fellow  citizens  to  mark  it,  and  watch  the  progress; — the  untiring 
effort,  and  aim  of  these  foreign  emissaries,  of  European  despots,  are  to  a;et  theciluca- 
tion  of  our  children,  and  young  people,  male  and  female,  into  their  ou-n  hands!  And 
all  those  unhappy  victims  whom  they  can  obtain,  they  send  home, — verily  igno- 
rant enough  of  the  usual  ornamental,  and  useful  branches, — but,  then,  their  ojie,. 
only  grand  aim  is  achieved.  They  send  them  home  into  the  bosoms  of  their  families^ 
unblushing,  irreligious,  bigoted  Roman  catholics!  This,  as  you  know,  Rev.  Fathers, 
is  the  plan  adopted  in  the  conspiracy  against  our  free  institutions.  The  foreign  des- 
pots know  that  it  is  vain  to  attack  us  with  armies,  and  navies  :  ihnt  political  eimaaanes- 
and  writings  could  fiufl  no  jdace  here.  They  attack  us  under  the  mask  of  religion ; 
the  Jesuits  arc  their  soluiers ;  the  De  propaganda  of  Rome,  and  that  of  the  south  of 
FrancL  :rain  their  soldiers:  the  despots,  and  the  ''Leopold  foundation,"  at  Vienna, 
furnish  the  money.  E\ery  son  of  his  holiness  is  taxed  to  support  the  emissaries  in 
our  land.     Tliey  are  ''  teachers  of  religion.'"     Yes:  but  they  cease  not  to  leach  in 


508  ROMAN   CATHOllC    CONTROVtilST. 

their  religion,  the  senilments  of  the  Holy  Alliance !  They  are  "  teachers  of  religion  /" 
Yes  :  but  they  instil  into  their  pupils,  despotic  principles .'  They  are  "  teachers  of  reli- 
ffion"  !  O,  yes !  But  at  the  confessional  they  utter  execrations  against  liberty  and 
republics'  They  appland  monarcliy:  and  popery,  and  absolutism!  They  are 
^eac/iers  of  religion."  Yes!  and  that  religion  dooms  all  /iereh'cf/Z  governments:  and 
leaches  that  no  heretic  has  a  right  to  rule  :  or  even  hold  property  :  that  no  Protestant 
heretic  has  a  lawful  heir,  because  no  heretic  is  legally  married,  according  to  the  papal 
law!  They  are  ^'teachers  0/ religion  "I  Yes  I  But  in  every  nunnery,  and  in 
everv  male  seminary,  it  is  their  religion  to  hold  up  the  pope  as  the  legitimate  master  of 
all  magistrates:  and  his  court,  and  platform  of  rule,  as  tlie  only  model  of  perfection 
in  the  art  of  government!  No  poKiics,  no  political  emissary, — no  armed  bands  can 
be  more  fatal  to  our  country,  than  these  "  teachers  of  religion'"  !  And  their  very 
jealousy,  and  eternal  outcry  of  "■  religious  persecution,''''  when  we  expose  their  conspi- 
racy ci gainst  our  unsuspecting  peo]>Ie,  is  to  me,  a  manifest  demonstration  that  iheir 
whole,  system  is  a  political  conspiracy.  The  teachers  of  pure  christianit\-  conrt  pub- 
licitv  :  they  move  in  light,  and  triumph  by  the  force  of iruth.  But  those  "religious" 
eonspira'ors  "  creep  into  houses  ;"  and  move  la  darkness,  and  fear  nothing  more  thaft 
light  and  publicity  I 

I  beg  leave  to  lav  down,  einphaticnlly,  before  the  public,  this  doctrine : — 

Popery  is  essentially  despotic,  and  utterly  incompatible  with  the  free  instiiutions  of 
cear  Repuhlic. 

Here.  I  have  to  combat  the  prejudices,  and  ignorance  of  superficial  men,  who 
maintain  thai  popery  is  so  altered,  and  so  modified,  and  reformed,  from  what  it  used 
to  be,  in  the  Dark  Ages,  that  it  can  do  little,  or  no  harm.  Reverend  Fathers,  no  one 
knows  better  than  you  do,  that  these  ages  were  created  Dark  Ages  by  the  plastic  power 
of  prij-.ery  I  And  if  she  could  have  crushed  the  influence  of  the  Bible  ;  and  quenched 
tlie  light  of  truth,  and  science,  we  should  have  been  in  the  Dark  Ages  still.  Modern 
light  and  improvement  bring  no  improvement  to  her.  One  fact  is  enough  to  show 
this: — Popery  claims  absolute  supremacy  for  her  pope,  and  infalhbility !  Hence, 
she  declares  "-she  never  errs  I""  She  can  never  alter  one  decree:  nor  revoke  one 
false  step:  nor  abaie  one  evil  that  ever  existed  in  her.  You  affect  to  compliment  her 
by  calling  her  improved  and  reformed  !  Were  yon  in  Spain,  you  should  receive  for 
your  compllraeat  a  corps  du  gard,  to  escort  you  to  a  cell  in  the  dungeon  of  the  bishop, 
— the  inquisiior,  in  his  osvn  diocese!  You  ought  to  know  that  you  offer  Rome  the 
greatest  insult,  v.-hich  in  her  estimation,  3'ou  can  contrive  to  offer  her  in  this  land: — 
bv  allediilna-  that  she  is  in  any  respect  altered :  for,  in  doing  this,  you  take  away  the- 
largest  and  brightest  gem  from  her  CLOwn.  You  take  avray  her  infallibility  and 
supremacy. 

The  fact  is  this  : — Popery  is  altered  so  far.  that  she  puts  on  the  mask,  and  a  false 
garb.  For  she  feels  that  she  is  in  an  enemy's  land.  She  suits  herself  in  appear- 
ance, to  the  decent  appearance  of  Protestants.  But,  as  you  know,  Fathers,  the 
moment  vou  can  get  the  power,  you  will  forthwith  revive  old  Irish,  Spanish,  Italian^ 
and  Austrian  times.     All  our  cities  will  gleatn  with  the  Auto  da  Fe! 

I  need  not  appeal,  here,  to  vv^bat  has  been  done  by  popes  and  couHcils  of  old.  The 
pope  claims,  to  this  day,  absolute  and  undoubted  supremacy  as  a  temporal  and 
spiritual  prince,  over  all  persons,  and  their  property  :  and  over  all  countries,  as  well 
Mohammedan,  as  Protestant,  and  catholic  and  pagan.  Has  any  one  forgotten  that 
tlie  pope  claimed,  aiKl  still  claims  the  giving  away  of  newly  discovered  lands,  to  hi& 


ROMA!?    CATnOLIC    CO?»TROVERST.  300 

favorite  princes  ?  From  tlie  beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  the  pope  claimed  this 
power  in  Spain.  It  is  true,  Dr.  Gedcles  has  estabhshed  the  fact,  beyond  all  Romish 
gainsaying,  thai  the  po])e's  supremacy  was  not  owned,  nor  even  knoivn  in  Spain, 
until  about  the  close  of  the  seventh  century.  But  early  in  the  eighth,  the  pope  threat- 
ened king  Witiza,  for  allowing  and  authorizing  the  priests  to  marry,  that  if  he  per- 
sisted, he  should  lose  his  kingdom.  See  Dr.  M.  Geddes'  works  against  popery,  vol. 
ii.  p.  29.  It  is  true,  king  Witiza  of  Spain,  denounced  the  pope ;  and  assembled  the 
great  council  of  Toledo,  in  A.  D.  704;  which  declared  and  decreed  that, — "the 
bishops  of  Rome  had  no  authority  in  Spain,  either  in  church,  or  in  state."  See  Ged-» 
des  ii.  p.  31.  Yet  tlie  pope  set  up  claims  to  that  realm  ;  letters  of  pope  Gregory  vii, 
were  produced  out  of  the  Vatican  Library,  addressed  to  all  princes  who  were  willing 
to  invade  the  moors  of  Spain,  and  drive  them  out.  In  these  Letters,  this  spiritual 
despot  published  his  solemn  grant  to  all  princes,  who  should  conquer  the  Moors, 
"  that  they  should  have,  and  hold  from  him,  the  pope,  the  use  of  all  the  countries  in 
Spain,  which  they  should  conquer  from  these  Moors.  But,"  adds  he, — "-the  property 
of  these  countries,  he  could  not  part  with,  or  give  it  to  them:  because  it  belonged  to 
St.  Peter  ;  and  the  See  of  Rome  /"     Geddes  ii.  p.  30. 

The  pope's  spiritual  supremacy  was,  in  defiance  of  the  great  but  unsuccessful 
struggles  of  all  good  men,  fully  established  in  the  most  of  the  countries  of  Europe^ 
about  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century:  and  his  temporal  power  and  supremacy, 
about  the  year  756.  Through  the  influence  of  that  infamous  traitor  and  usurper, 
Pepin,  this  wasefTected.  By  him  was  pope  Stephen  ii.  made  Exarchate  of  Ravenna. 
By  insatiable  ambition  and  lust  of  power,  the  popes  continued  to  make  constant  acces- 
sions to  their  domains,  and  revenues.  Charlemagne  made  very  great  and  important 
additions  to  the  gift  of  his  father  Pepin.  This  monarch,  bigotted  and  superstitious, 
helped  on  the  Romish  power  towards  its  height.  He  was  the  Jirst  emperor  that  was 
crowned  by  the  pope.  Give  tyranny,  especially  ghostly  tyranny,  the  least  degree  of 
unlav.ful  power,  and  its  thirst  becomes  burning  and  insatiable  for  more.  From  this 
time,  the  popes  actually  assumed  the  right  of  crowning  kings  :  and,  thence,  they  set 
up  the  claims  of  conferring  the  crown ;  and  with  it,  the  right  of  conferring  the 
sovereignty  of  the  empire.  For,  wiiat  was  the  crown  "  without  the  holy  p^^^e's  bene- 
diction." From  that  time  the  popes  claimed  absolute  sovereignty  over  all  kings,  and 
magistrates,  from  the  lowest  to  the  raosiexalr?d  in  all  lands! 

Such  is  tlie  origin  of  papal  supremacy.  Nothing  less  than  a  traitor  and  a  mur- 
derer of  his  royal  master,  and  the  usurper  olhis  throne,  could  have  conceived  it;  and 
his  bloody  son  consummated  it!  From  tliat  lime,  the  illicit  union  of  the  spiritual 
and  the  temporal  power,  by  a  frightful  amalgamation,  gave  birth  to  the  papal  Beast, 
as  foreseen  in  the  visions  of  St.  John  ! 

I  am,  Rev.  Fathers,  yours,  5:c. 
W.  C,  B, 


JIO  ROMAX    CATHOLIC    Co:<TROVKRSr. 


LETTER  XXXI. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,  AND  THE  LORDS  BISHOPS    OF  THE  ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    TH£    UNITED    STATES. 

Popery  essentially  despotic:  and  incompatible  with  our  free  institutions. 

"  Per  varios  casus,  per  tot  discrimina  renim, 
Tendimus  in  Latium!"  Virg. 

Reverend  Fathers: — Through  you,  I  earnestly  beg  the  attention  of  my  fellow 
citizens,  to  the  open  and  avowed  doctrine  of  the  Romish  church  on  this  point.  These 
papal  claims  are  laid  down  by  popes  and  councils;  and  they  are  viewed,  and  acted 
on,  as  '■'■  the  essential  doctrine  of  Christianity."  And  these  claims  of  tha  pope,  his 
bishops,  and  priests  extend  to  our  republic,  to  our  president,  and  congress,  and  gov- 
ernors, and  all  the  magistracy  as  fully,  and  as  entirely,  in  their  undiminished  pre- 
tensions, as  unto  any  Roman  catholic  power  in  Europe.  I  implore  my  fellow  citi- 
zens not  to  be  imposed  on  by  the  Jesuitism  of  the  men  who  pretend  that  "  they  do 
not  own  the  pope  as  a  temporal  prince."  There  is  not  a  Roman  catholic  in  Europe, 
or  in  the  United  States,  who  does  not  fully  believe  that  the  pope  has  just  as  absolute  a 
right,  and  supremac}^  over  Protestant  Holland,  and  Protestant  Britain,  and  over  our 
Protestant  Republic,  and  over  all  our  bodies,  and  our  souls,  and  our  real,  and  personal 
jTToperty, — as  he  has  over  Spain,  or  Italy  itself!  This  is  ihe  solemn  faidi  of  every 
Roman  catholic,  as  it  is  laid  down  in  his  books;  and  taught  him  daily.  And  you 
know,  Fathers,  that  papists  could  not  expect  to  be  saved,  if  they  did  not  believe  this. 
It  is  true,  the}' refuse  to  admit  it:  they  even  deny  it.  But  this,  you  know,  is  denied 
only  before  Protestants,  and  in  -all  Protestant  lands.  They  would  be  guilty  of  a 
mortal  sin  if  they  did  not  believe  that  which  they  thus  deny!  I  shall  produce  from 
your  own  books,  your  authentic  doctrines  on  this  point;  and  we  shall  then  see  how 
.atrocious  and  dangerous  they  are. 

"The  pope,'' — saj^s  the  council  which  had  Gregory  A^II.  at  its  head, — "ought  to 
b«  called  the  universal  bishop  :  he  alone  ought  to  wear  the  token  of  rm^^maZ  dignity  : 
all  princes  ought  to  kiss  his  feet:  he  has  power  to  depose  emperors  and  kings,  and  is 
to  be  judged  bj^  no  man."  Pope  Innocent  III.  proclaimed  himself  thus  to  th« 
world  : — "The  church  my  spouse,  is  not  married  to  me  without  bringing  me  some- 
thing. She  hath  given  me  a  dowery  of  a  price,  beyond  all  price :  the  plenilude  of 
^in7waZ  things:  and  the  extent  of  temporal  things:  the  mitre  for  the  priesthood; 
and  the  crown  for  the  kingdom;  making  me  the  lieutenant  of  Him  who  has  it  written 
X3n  h's  thigh,  "  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords :"  to  enjoy  the  plenitude  of  power, 
ihat  others  may  say  of  me  next  to  God, — "out  of  his  fulness  have  we  received." 

To  deny  this  unbounded  temporal  poicer,  was  deemed  by  the  pope  the  greatest 
iieresy  ia  the  kings  of  Europe.  Every  one  has  read  of  the  troubles  and  degradation 
to  which  King  John  of  England;  and  Henry  H.  of  England,  in  the  affair  of  the 
villainous  and  treason  working  knave.  Saint  Thomas  A  Becket,  were  subjected,  by 
this  usurped  power  of  the  pope.  Every  student  of  history  is  familiar  with  the 
power  claimed  by  the  two  popes  who  excommunicated  King  Henry  VIII. ;  and  by 
pope  Pius  VI.  who  put  Queen  Elizabeth  under  his  ban,  and  called,  authoritatively, 
ppon  all  her  subjects,  as  his  subjects,  to  rise  up  in  rebellion  against  her,  "whojn  he, 

1 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    COKTR0VER8T.  3lt 

by  virtue  of  power  from  God,  had  judged  and  damned," — yes,  damned!  For  h« 
affected  to  be  "  Lord,  and  God,"  of  both  worlds,  and  judge  of  the  bodies  and  souls 
of  all  men ! 

When  King  Philip  of  France,  showed  a  disposition  to  slight  the  pope's  power,  th« 
pope  thus  addressed  him  in  his  Bull, — "  We  would  have  you  to  know,  that  you, 
king  of  France,  are  subject  to  us,  both  in  things  s]nntiial  and  temyoral :  and  ice  pro- 
nounce all  those  who  believe  the  contrary,  to  be  heretics  .'"  On  another  occasion, 
addressing  the  same  monarch,  the  pope  said, — "Do  not  imagine  that  you  have  no 
*uperior:  or,  that  you  are  not  in  subjection  to  the  Head  of  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy , — 
he  that  maintains  this  is  an  infidel  !" 

And  this  has  been  practically  pla^^ed  off  by  way  of  a  comment,  and  a  lesson  U) 
kings,  and  magistrates.  A  king  of  England,  and  a  king  of  France,  were  compelled 
to  hold  the  pope's  stirrup,  and  act  as  his  groom's  man.  An  emperor  of  Germany 
laid  his  neck  at  the  pope's  feet:  and  the  pope,  in  lordly  pride,  put  his  heel  on  hie 
prostrate  neck,  as  he  blasphemously  repeated  the  sacred  text; — "Thou  shall  tread 
upon  the  serpent,  and  trample  on  the  dragon,  and  lion  I"  Henry  IV.,  the  emperor, 
did  penance  before  the  pope's  gate  at  Canusium:  three  days  did  he  stand  there, 
barefooted;  bare  headed,  and  in  a  wretched  woollen  cloth  wrapped  round  him.  On 
tire  fourth  da}',  the  haughty  despot  deigned  to  give  him  aft  audience ;  and  he  promisexl 
him  absolution,  on  condition  of  his  submitting  to  the  dictates  of  a  comicil,  to  be  call- 
ed by  the  pope.  That  council,  at  the  nod  of  this  pope, — I  mean  Gregory  VI  I.,  deposed 
him:  and  chose  a  new  emperor;  to  whom  the  pope  sent  a  crown  bearing  this  motto: — 
"Petra  dedit  Petro,  Petrus  diadema  Rodolpho."  "The  Rock  gave  the  crown  to 
Peter,  and  Peter  gave  it  to  Rodolphus  !" 

This  supremacy  of  the  pope,  "  over  all  persons,  and  things,"  says  Bellarmine, 
"is  the  ?jaix  substance  of  Christianity!"  Hence  the  following  doctrines  of  th« 
Roman  catholic  church,  which  I  submit  to  every  citizen  of  this  republic.  Cardinal 
Polus,  De  Concil.  41.  says,—"  Petri  cathedram,  &c.  The  chair  of  St.  Peter,  Christ 
has  constituted,  above  all  imperial  thrones:  and  all  regal  tribunals!" 

Blasius,  De  Rom.  Eccles.  Dignitate,  Tract  7,  pp.  34.  83.  85,  says,— "Unicus  Dei 
Ticarius,  &c.  The  Roman  Pontiff  is  the  only  vicar  of  God : — the  pope's  power  is 
OTer  all  the  world,  pagan,  as  well  as  christian  :  the  only  vicar  of  God,  who  has  su- 
preme power,  and  empire  over  all  kings,  and  princes  of  the  earth  !  As  there  is  on« 
God,  the  monarch  of  all,  who  presides  and  rules  over  all  mortals ;  so  there  is  ont 
wicar  of  God  :  kings  ought  to  be  under  Peier:  and  must  bow  down  and  submit  their 
aecks  to  him,  and  his  successors :  who  is  prince,  and  lord  of  all,  whom  all  emperors, 
aud  kings,  and  potentates,  are  suhject  to ;  and  must  humbly  obey." 

Pope  Boniface  VIII.  proclaims  in  the  Extravagantes,  (the  extravagantes  are  the 
decretals  of  popes,  and  councils,  and  of  the  civil  powers.)—"  Oinnes  Christi,  &c.  It 
li  necessary  to  saWation  that  all  christians  be  subject  to  the  pope!"" 

Bzovius,  De  Rom.  Pontif.  Col.  Agripp.  cap.  i.  3.  16.  32.  45.  teaches  thus :  "  Papa 
est,  &c.  The  pope  is  the  monarch  of  all  christians:  supreme  over  all  mortal?: 
from  hhn  lies  no  appeal.  He  is  judge  in  heaven;  and  in  all  earthly  jurisdiction, 
supreme:    he  is  the  arbiter  of  the  world." 

Mancinus,  De  Jur.  Princip.  Rom.  Lib.  3.  cap.  i.  2.  "Papa  est,  &c.  The  pope 
is  Lord  of  the  whole  world.  The  pope,  as  pope  has  temporal  power :  his  temporal 
power  is  most  eminent.     All  other  powers  depend  on  the  pope." 

Moscovius,  De.  Majest.  Eccleg.  Milit.  Lib.  i.  cap.  7.  p.  20,  teaches  the  Romish  doctriBe 


312  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

fully  and  frankly  :  '*  Pontifex  Romanus,  ^-c.  The  Roman  Pontiff  is  universal  judge : 
kinsr  of  kings,  and  lord  of  lords  ;  because  his  power  is  of  God.  God's  tribunal  and 
the  jiope's  tribunal  are  the  same  ;  they  have  the  same  consistory.  All  other  poivcrs  are 
his  subjects.  The  pope  is  judged  of  none  but  God."  See  also  Pithou,  Corp.  Jur. 
Can.  29,  Decret.  Tit.  7,  c.  3,  also  Cibert  ii.  9.  Bruy,  ii.  100,  and  Labbeus,  viii.  6Q(j, 
and  Binii  Concil.  ix.  54. 

Scioppius,  in  Eccles.  Jacob.  Mag.  Brit.  Reg.  Oppos.  cap.  138,  139,  241,  says, — 
*'Catholici  non  tantum,  Sec.  Catholics  helieve  the  pope's  power  to  be  not  ouly 
ministerial,  but  iinperial,  and  supreme;  so  that  he  has  the  right  to  direct,  and  compel, 
with  the  power  of  life,  and  of  death." 

Maynardus,  De  Privil.  Eccles.  Art.  5,  Sect.  19,  &c.  Art.  6,  Sect.  1,  &c.  Art.  13, 
Sect.  19,  says  :  "Emperors  and  kings  are  the  pope's  subjects.  The  pope  has  power 
in  the  ivhole  world  in  temporals  and  spirituals.  Statutes  made  by  laymen  do  not  hind 
the  clergy!''' 

Simanca,  in  his  Enchir.  Judicum.  Tit.  67.  Sect.  12.  p.  349,  says,— "  Heretici 
privati  sunt,  &c.  Heretics  (Protestants)  are  deprived  of  all  dominion,  and  jurisdic- 
lion;  and  their  subjects  are  freed  from  their  obedience." 

Emanuel  Sa,  Aphoris.  Confes.  Verb.  Cleric,  p.  41.  thus  teaches,— "Clericirebellio, 
&c.  The  rebellion  of  a  priest  is  not  treason :  because  clergy  are  not  the  king's,'' 
(nor  the  repubhc's)  "subjects." 

Turrecremata.  Card,  ad  Can.  Alius  3.  Cans.  15.  Quest.  6.  and  De  Eccles.  Lib. 
2.  cap.  14,  teaches  thus  :  "  Papa  potest  deponere,  &c.  The  pope  can  depose  empe- 
rors, and  kings ;  he  may  lawfully  absolve  subjects  from  their  oath  of  allegiance.  If 
the  king"  (or  President)  "be  manifestly  a  heretic,"  that  is,  a  Protestant, — "the 
church  may  depose  him,"  that  is,  from  his  office  as  a  magistrate. 

Paul  IF.  the  pope,  in  his  Bull,  A.  D.  1558,  thunders  forth  his  anathema  thus  : — 
*'All  Protestants,  be  they  kings  or  subjects,''— ihat  is,  be  they  Protestants,  or  Govern- 
ors, or  Mayors,  or  Aldermen, — ''are  all  solemnly  cursed."" — And  this  Bull  is  a  part  of 
the  canon  law  :  see  Lib.  7.  Decret.  Lib.  5.  Tit.  3.  De  Ilereticis,  &c.  cap.  9. 

And  let  magistrates  look  well  to  the  character  which  the  Romish  church  says,  her 
prieslhood  occupy,  in  the  Republic.  They  never  can,  without  violating  their  solemn 
oath  to  the  pope,  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  our  government;  or  become  citizens. 
If  they  do,  they  are  guilty  of  perjury  before  the  pope!  Nay,  the  Roman  Council  of 
the  Lateran,  under  pope  Innocent  III.  Can.  43,  thus  declares, — "  Sacri  auctoritate, 
&c.  By  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Council,  we  declare  it  unlawful  for  secular  prin- 
ces to  require  any  oath  of  fidelity,  and  allegiance  of  their  clergy;  we  peremptorily 
forbid  all  the  priests  from  taking  any  such  oath,  if  it  be  required."  See  Corpus  Jur. 
Canonici. 

Again,  in  Corpus  Jur.  Can.  cap.  Sicut  27,  Extrav.  De  Jurejurando,  it  is  thus 
taught, — "  Juramentum,  &c.  No  oath  against  the  benefit  of  the  church  is  binding: 
all  such  oaths  are  perjuries.'''  And  Spottiswood  in  his  History  of  Scotland,  p.  308, 
says, — "■  If  the  pope  dispense  with  voluntary  oaths,  it  is  valid." 

Filiucius,  in  his  Moral  Quest.  Tract  16,  cap.  11,  sect.  307,  309,  teaches  that  "by 
the  canon  law,  and  the  decree  of  the  Lateran  Council,  under  pope  Innocent  III.,  all 
magistrates  who  interpose  against  ecclesiastical  persons,  in  any  criminal  cause, 
whether  it  be  even  for  murder,  or  even  high  treason,  shall  be  excommunicated." 
And  the  Bull  of  pope  Gregory  ix.  in  1580,  declares  thus:— "Judex  secularis,  &c. 
No  secular  judge  may  condemn  a  priest :  and  if  he  do ;  he  shall  be  excommuni- 


nOllAN    CATHOLIC    C05TR0VERST.  313 

cated." — Hence  it  is  canonical  doctrine  of  the  lluinaa  court  that  iia'pal  ecclesiastics 
are  not  subject  to  the  civil  laws ! 

This  is  easily  carried  out,  in  every  priest  ridden  government.  But  how  Is  it  managed 
under  a  Protestant  government  ?  I  answer  by  facts, — when  a  priest  commits  it  crime 
which  lays  him  open  to  the  lash  of  the  law, — the  bishop  orders  him  otf  in  an  huur; 
and  before  the  legal  officer  is  at  his  house,  he  is  on  board  of  some  ve^s  jl  under  a 
borrowed  name.  We  all  know  how  often  this  occurs  in  our  cities !  Remember  priest 
Smith  ! 

I  conclude  with  a  few  more  extracts,  Bellarinine,  Controv.  Lib.  5,  cap.  6,  p. 
H)98  says, — "  tlie  spiritual  powers  must  rule  the  {eniporal  by  all  sorts  of  neaus,  and 
expedients,  when  necessary."  "Cliristiaris,*' — that  means  papists, — "  should  not  tole- 
rate a  heretic  king,"  (or  President.) 

Salmeron,  Comment.  Evan.  Hist.  Tom.  iv.  pars  3:  Tract.  4,  p.  411,  thus  teaches  : 
"  The  pope  has  supreme  power  over  all  the  earth ;  over  all  kings,  and  government-  ,  to 
command  and  enforce  them  &c.  And  if  they  resist  him,  he  must  puni?h  them,  as 
contumacious." 

Lessius,  Lib.  2,  ca]).  42:  Dub.  12:  p.  632,  teaches: — That  ''the  pope  can  annul 
and  cancel  every  possible  obligaHon  arising  from  an  oath.''  So  completely  does  the 
pope  set  all  civil  governments,  and  all  courts  at  defiance. 

And,  now,  can  any  citizen,  of  the  least  reflection,  deny  that  tliese  essential  doctrines 
of  popery  can  never  be  compatible  with  the  laws  and  instituti')ns  of  our  Repulhc  ?  If 
the  Jesuits  do  teach  these  doctrines, — as  1  do  ariirm  before  God  and  man,  they  do  in 
tlieir  seminaries,  they  are  deadly  foes  of  our  fiee  government.  If  tjiey  d.  re  deny 
them,  while  thsy  lie  open  in  their  staudird  books  in  our  hands,  then  are  luey  verily 
Jesuits,  and  knaves  that  will  lie! 

I  am,  Reverend  Fathers,  you;s,  &c. 
Vv.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXXII. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,    AND    TH*:    LORDS    BISHOPS    OF    THi:    ROMAT    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THP:    UNITED    STATES. 

Popery   Essentially    Despotic  ;  and  Incoivpat.lblc  with  the  Free  Institutions  of 

our  Republic. 

Hoc  volo;  sic  jubeo;  sit  pro  ratioue  voluntas! 

Juvenal  vi.  210. 

Reverend  Fathers: — I  beg  that  it  may  be  distinctly  known  by  you,  and  my 
fellow  citizens,  that  all  the  above  doctrines  are  extracted  from  the  canons,  and  de- 
cretals published  by  Roman  doctors,  approved  by  inquisitors  ;  or  enacted  by  councils., 
and  san'Mioned  by  popes.  Hence  they  exhibit  the  immutable  faith  of  the  Ror.  a.z  catholics. 

Now,  let  us  glance  at  facts  to  show  that,  in  thisinsfance,  popery  is,  if  );3:  sible,  even 
more  intolerant  in  deeds  than  in  theory.  1.  The  Romish  church  has  ncvi  r  tolerated 
any  church  of  Christ,  where  she  had  tlie  power.  The  Jew,  the  inHdel,*he  Moham- 
medan, the  christian  have  all  been,  alike  the  victims  of  her  unsparing  b'^otry  I  She 
knows  no  other  sect, — admits  of  no  sister  chmch:  there  is  no  religion  out  of  her: 
no  salvation  outof  her:  all  are  doomed  to  eternal  pejdition,  not  of  her  communion  : 

28 


314  ROMAN    CATHOLt€    CONTROVERSr* 

This  is  not  all !  she  is  a  lordly  tyrant,  who  permits  none  to  breathe,  or  live,  or  enjoy 
civil  privileges,  who  differ  from  her,— wherever  she  has  the  ascendancy !  Look  at 
Spain,  Austria,  and  Italy!  None  will  she  allow  to  die  in  peace,  or  receive  even  the 
last  honors  of  sepulture, — or  even, — if  she  can  prevent  it, — enter  the  gates  of  heaven, 
who  differ  from  her  petty  tyrants,  the  priests !  Her  government,  and  all  her  habits 
of  rule  are  not  only  strictly  monarchial,  but  despotic, — absolutely  desjjotic,  over  soul, 
and  body  !  Witness  the  absolute  slavery  of  the  lay  yjeople,  to  the  imperious  priest  I 
In  Ireland,  the  priest  exercises  his  ivhip  andjlsts,  on  his  parishioners,  as  freely,  and 
as  cruelly  as  the  slave  driver  does  on  his  negroes.  Then,  mark  the  slavery  of  the 
crouching  priest,  to  the  bishop.  He  must,  on  his  knees,  kiss  the  lordly  hand  of  the 
despot,  before  he  mounts  the  pulpit,  if  he  happens  to  be  present.  And  then,  the 
slavish  prostration  of  soul  and  body,  on  the  part  of  the  bishop,  to  the  "Lord  his  god 
the  pope,"  is  a  disgrace, — a  foul  blot  on  God's  image, — man!  The  bishops  and 
priests  live,  and  move,  by  the  breath  of  the  pope's  lips!  They  have  no  opinion,  nor 
sentiment,  nor  religion,  nor  conscience,  nor  even  soul  of  their  own.  It  is  all  as  the 
lordly  tyrant  of  Rome  breathes  it  into  them,  even  here,  within  the  free  air  of  our 
republic  ! 

2.  The  Romish  church  has  always  united  church  and  state.  This  is  an  essential 
element  of  her  religion. 

And  history  reveals  how  much  her  selfishness  here  rivals  her  impiety.  In  every 
instance  of  similar  unhallowed  connections,  in  Protestant  lands,  there  is  the  union  of 
the  church  to  the  state ;  by  which  the  latter  uniformly  makes  a  tool  of  the  former  ; 
and  the  church  always  suffers.  But,  in  lordly  Rome,  the  church  unites  the  state  to 
herself,  that  in  every  instance,  she  may  use  its  perfect  subserviency.  Hence  her 
unbounded  arrogance.  She  sets  up  claims  of  power  over  all  kings,  emperors,  presi- 
dents, and  governments.  Hence  the  secret  of  her  treatment  of  civil  powers.  All  gov- 
ernments not  of  her  religion,  are  pronounced,  in  her  canons,  heretical ;  and  that 
means,  in  her  court  style,  wnZau/u/ ;  and  they  must  be  put  down,  at  all  hazards; 
and  every  where,  as  soon  as  she  reaches  the  power.  Carrying  out  these  maxims, 
and  principles  of  action,  as  an  absolute  despot,  she,  of  course,  abhors  and  nauseates 
every  form  of  government  that  favors  the  liberties  of  the  people.  She  has  an  uncon- 
querable horror  of  a  republic.  It  is  at  perfect  antipodes  with  every  sentiment,  and 
feeling  of  Rome.  Her  people  must  not  think  for  themselves  ;  must  not  read  ;  they 
have  no  right  to  liberty  of  conscience :  the  pre^s  is  muzzled  :  with  her  the  liberty  of 
the  press  is  insupportable  licentiousness.  These  maxims  pervade  the  present  pope's 
late  encyelical  Letter.  Hence,  no  Romish  priest  can  be  a  repubhcan.  He  has  no 
taste  for  it.  Like  the  bear  of  the  north,  the  Romish  piiest  is  an  animal  that  can 
tliriveonly  in  the  icy  regions  of  despotism.  He  cannot  be  a  republican,  had  he  even 
a  taste  for  it.  He  is  a  feudal  vassal :  he  would  bring  on  his  soul  the  mortal  sin  of 
perjury,  if  he  became  a  lover  of  liberty.  The  pope  has  his  whole  soul,  and  his  great 
oath  :  his  ivord,  and  even  his  civil  oath  are  not  to  be  credited  in  opposition  to  his  papal 
interests !     Facts  confirm  this. 

The  one  great,  and  unwavering  object  of  papal  ambition,  has  been  power,  and 
universal  ascendency  in  all  things,  temj)oral  and  spiritual.  History  declares  that  no 
Roman  catholic  country  has  ever  been  a  true  republic.  The  priesthood  of  Rome 
have  been  monarchists  of  the  most  absolute  character,  from  the  pope  down  to  the 
cure. 

Hence,  we  frankly  avow,  that  we  oppose  your  system  of  priestcraft  not  on  account  of 


ROMAIf  CATHOLIC  OOI^TROVERST.  315 

your  religion,  merely  as  a  religion.  We  oppose  you  on  this  account,  that  popery  is  a 
dtspot'is:n,  breathing  a  deadly  malignity  against  every  form  of  religion,  dillering  in 
any  iota,  from  itself;  and  against  all  free,  and  especially,  all  republican  institutions ! 
I  appeal  to  the  history  of  Roman  catholic  countries  in  Europe,  South  America,  and 
Mexico.  The  land  of  the  Inquisition,  and  of  priestcraft  has  ever  been  the  tomb  of 
liberty  !  And  the  Roman  catholic  church  has  been  the  mother  and  nurse  of  the 
Inquisition,  and  priestcraft.  The  moral  atmosphere  of  Rome,  worse  than  their  own 
malaria,  and  worse  than  the  deadly  Samiel  of  the  desert,  breathes  death  to  all  liberty, 
civil  and  religious! 

3.  Ot  all  the  specifications  which  might  be  made,  there  is  one,  to  which  I  beg  the 
earnest  atte  ntion  of  our  citizens.  It  pourtrays  the  diabolical  spirit  of  this  ghostly 
despotism,  in  deepest  hues.  Eveiy  Protestant,  and,  indeed,  every  man  not  a  Roman 
catholic,  is  denounced  by  the  pope,  and  his  foreign  emissaries  among  us,  a?  excommu- 
nicated her-,  tics  !  And,  what  is  worse,  every  person  in  these  United  States,  who  is 
not  a  Romanist,  is  annually  excommunicated,  and  pronounced  accursed,  and  doomed 
to  perdition!  This  unchristian,  and  horrid  ceremony  of  cursing  all  the  American 
citizens,  and  government,  is  annually  pronounced  on  Thursday,  before  Good  Friday. 

It  begins  at  Rome.  On  that  day,  the  pope,  in  his  scarlet  vestments,  the  appropriate 
clothing  of  the  "blood  red,  scarlet  colored  Beast  of  the  apocalypse,"  utters  in  awful 
form,  this  infernal  imprecation.  And,  in  his  name,  in  like  manner,  does  every  priest, 
in  his  own  chapel,  read  this  bull  In  cana  Domini,  re-echoing  the  papal  curse  over 
the  world  !  They  denounce  all  our  citizens ;  all  our  magistracy ;  our  mayors ;  our 
aldermen ;  our  governors ;  the  president ;  and  all  the  branches  of  our  government ! 
And  this  curse  of  their  foreign  master,  includes  the  sentence  of  deposition  from  civil 
office ;  as  being  heretics,  and  having,  of  course,  no  right  to  rule  !  And  there  are  just 
two  things  which  screen  them  from  popular  indignation.  They  deny  the  charge  of 
doing  it,  even  while  they  are  in  the  act  of  doing  it;  and  it  is  done  in  Latin,  which 
few  understand. 

But  the  priests  and  their  partizans  gain  their  aim  notwithstanding:  they  cherish 
the  secret  spirit  of  hostility  to  »ur  institutions ;  and  their  subserviency  to  European 
despots ! 

And  in  case  of  a  war,  or  insurrection,  the  whole  army  of  priests,  bishops,  monks, 
and  partizans  are  bound  b}'  your  foreign  allegiance,  as  you  know.  Fathers, — and  by 
your  great  oath,  to  rise  in  defence  of  the  pope  and  his  allies;  and  against  our  govern- 
ment!  If  you  do  not,  the  guilt  of  perjury  rests  on  you;  and  you,  thence,  forfeit 
your  offices,  and  your  revenues!  No  man,  acquainted  with  Romanism,  and  its  des- 
potic vows,  can  imagine  that  a  papist  will  permit  his  oath  of  allegiance  to  any  heretical 
government,  to  supersede,  in  one  instance,  his  vows,  and  oath  to  the  pope.  And  this 
oath,  be  it  remembered,  binds  him  as  perfectly  \n  civil,  as  in  spiritual  matters. 

It  is  now  understood  by  us  all,  that  the  course  adopted  by  our  Jesuits,  and  the 
priests  in  general,  in  reference  to  this  Bull  of  annual  damnation  of  heretics,  is, — to 
deny  it  utterly  ;  to  deny  that  it  is  promulged  by  any  of  them.  Hence  the  Jesuits 
have  caused  it  to  be  published  in  The  Catholic  Herald^  that  it  is  never  promulged  by 
them;  that  "they  have  not  even  a  copy  of  it;"  "that  it  utters  no  curses  on  any 
one."  I  refer  to  the  Protestant  Vindicator,  No.  12.  I  beg  leave,  also,  to  notice  a 
email  book,  lately  jjublished  by  one  of  you;  I  mean  bishop  England,  entitled  Ex- 
planation oj  the  ceremonies  oj"  Holy  lVeek%  &c, ;  but  which  is,  merely,  a  childifh, 


3?6  ROMA>'  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERST. 

and  contemptible  apology  for  the  iheatrical  mummery  of  Rome,  and  its  intolefaiit 
dogmas. 

When  Dr.  E.  comes  to  the  services  of  Maunday  Thursday,  he  has  the  hardihood 
fo  deny  that  these  vindictive  curses  on  the  human  family,  "are  now  gone  through  on 
(he  Thursday  of  holy  week."  It  is  now  laid  aside ;  and  has  "  not  been  gone  ihrougb 
since  tlie  yec^r  1740."     See  p.  69. 

I  do  not  stop  to  inquire  whether  courtesy  should  compel  one  to  say  that  a  person 
speaks  the  truth,  when  he  actually  hes!  But  I  cannot  conceive  it  possible  that  our 
Jesuits,  f^nd  also  Dr.  England  did  not  know  that  what  they  say  on  this  matter,  is 
positiveh  untrue  and  false. 

i  shall  conduct  them,  and  you,  Fathers,  directly  to  this  very  Bull  for  evidence  to 
sustain  m.y  strong  assertions.  "You  do  not  promulge  the  Bull  In  coena  Domhii;''* 
you  .'-a^j.  Hear  what  your  sovereign  lord  at  Rome  says  : — Sect.  29, — "Ut  processus 
ipsi  &c.  That  the  processes  themselves,  and  these  present  letters  may  be  made  more 
known,  in  virtue  of  canonical  obedience,  we  do  strictly  charge  and  command  all  and 
singi]lar,--that  they  publish  them  once  annually  or  oftener,  if  expedient,  when  the 
majf>r  part  of  the  people  are  assembled." 

"You  do  not  possess  a  copy  of  it,  and  therefore,  3'ou  cannot  publish  it," — you  say, 
in  2'/e  Catholic  Herald. 

Wliar  an  act  of  rebellion  against  the  pope,  and  the  highest  power  in  j'our  church! 
Her??  are  tlis  words  of  the  Bull,  Sect.  25.  "Episcopi,  nee  non  rectores  &c.  Bishops, 
and  rectors,  and  curates,  and  presbyters  of  ever}^  order,  shall  have  with  them  a  tran-' 
script  of -this  Bull,  and  shall  diligently  read  and  study  to  understand  it.'" 

"It  ha*  not  been  gone  through  since  1740;  but  is  now  laid  aside;"  saj'S  Dr.  Eng- 
lan*^'.  It  is  diificult  to  say  whether  we  should  pronounce  this  to  be  impudence,  or 
reckless  hardihood,  or  Jesuitism  dyed  in  the  wool.  That  he  should  have  thus  dared 
to  uiter  his  at  Rome,  and  thus  beard  the  lion  in  his  den, — the  pope  in  his  very  ievee! 
Yes!  and  with  the  very  Bull  uttering  his  papal  roars  in  his  very  ears, — is  surpass- 
ing strange !  The  unblushing  falsehood  ought  to  be  rebuked.  I  affirm  that  Dr. 
England  knows  perfectly  well  that  this  Bull  is  ordered,  by  the  highest  authority  of 
his  church,  to  be  annually  promulgated.  And  in  the  teeth  of  his  denial,  I  affirm  that 
he  knows  well  that  it  has  been  uttered  since  1740.^Dr.  E.  is  "  a  member  of  the 
Rom.  Pont.  Academ}'-  of  Archaeology."  Now  there  is  a  volume,  printed  at  Rom.e  in 
A.  D.  176'4,  entitled,— "Appendix  ad  Tusc.  Synod,  held  by  the  Cardinal  Duke  of 
York,  Bp.  of  Frescati,  in  1763."  Is  it  possible  that  this  member  of  the  Academy 
has  not  seen  that  book,  so  well  known  in  its  library,  and  in  the  libraries  at  Rome? 
I  cannot  ])prsuade  m3^self  that  Dr.  E.  is  so  absolutely  ignorant.  He  must  have  seen 
it.  It  is  well  known  even  in  the  libraries  in  Britain.  At  p.  p.  575,  576,  of  that  book, 
Dr.  E.  must  have  ?een  the  copy  of  the  Bull  In  coena  Domini.,  as  uttered  by  pope 
Clement  XIII.,,  in  the  year  1764.  I  copy  from  the  preamble,  now  before  me.  The 
pope,  stating  that  his  predecessors  on  Maunday  Thursday'-,  did  exercise  such  a  spirit- 
ual sword  of  church  discipline,  adds; — "We,  therefore,  following  this  ancient,  and 
solemn  custom,  do  Firstly, — Excommunicate,  and  curse  on  the  part  of  Almighf}' 
God,  and  the  apostles,  alt  heretics,  &c."  Then  follow  the  designated  victims  of 
I>npal  intcl^rance :  he  "curses"  them  from  the  eye  brows  to  the  toe  nails;  and  their 
souls;,  'jeh)!;  damned  byhira,with  the  devil,  he  adjudged  into  eternal  fire:  damnatum 
cum  diahoio, — in  ignem  ceternum  judicamus.^^  See  also  Land.  Prot.  Jour.  April,  1834.. 
p.  2^0. 


EOIUN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  317 

Farther — "This  Bull  In  conia  Doming — you  say,  "does  not  curse  Protestants, — 
does  not  interfere  with  Protestant  governments."  I  beg  the  attention  of  the  American 
commui  Ity  to  an  analysis  of  this  famous  Bull,  which  is  annually  pronounced  against 
us.  It  opens  thus: — "In  the  name  of  the  Almighty  God,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  anJ  by  the  authority  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  by  our  oavn, — we  excom- 
municate and  pronounce  accursed,  all  Hussites,  Wiclsliffites,  Lutherans,  Calvinists, 
Huguonots,  Anajapists,  Trinitarians,  and  all  apostates  from  the  faith,  and  ali  who 
keep,  and  read  knowingly  their  books,  &c. 

In  section  ^ixth,  the  pope  utters  his  curse  "  on  all  civil  powers  who  impose  new 
taxes  without  the  consent  of  the  Roman  court." 

In  the  12th  section  he  curses  ali  who,  in  any  way,  hurt  or  maltreat  cardinals, 
bishops,  and  priests;  or  who  drive  them  from  their  lands,  territories,  &:c."  Now,  as 
the  p)ope  claim.=  all  lands,  and  gives  them  to  his  priests,  this  republic  falls  under  the 
malediction  of  the  pope,  because,  it  does  not  establish  the  popish  religion  by  a  law  ; 
and  pay  the  tithea  of  the  fruits  of  the  land,  as  his  just  tribute! 

In  the  J  5th  section,  he  curses  all  magistrates,  who  "  take  away  the  jurisdiction  of 
all  beneiices,  and  tithes;  or  other  spiritual  causes,  from  the  cognizance  of  the  court  of 
Rome."  Hence,  if  any  of  our  courts  take  up  a  cause  of  quarrel  between  the  priests, 
or  laymen,  about  monies  due  to  "  the  church,^''  or  "  any  spiritual  property''''  instead  of 
referring  it  t^imply  and  dutifully  to  the  foreign  despot,  they  come  under  the  papal 
carse. 

In  the  17th  section,  the  sovereign  master  of  all  Roman  catholics  utters  his  curse 
on  all  those  who  shall  hinder  priests,  and  ecclesiastics,  from  exerting  their  ghostly 
jurisdiction  ;  or  vvho  shall  appeal  to  a  civil  court  for  redress,  and  "to  procure  prohibi- 
tions, and  penal  mandates  against  these  priestly  courts,  &c. 

In  the  13th  section,  he  curses  "  all  who  take  away  the  priests,"  and  church's  proper- 
ty." At  the  Rerormation,  the  priests  w^ere  made  to  disgorge  their  ill-gotten  "goods  and 
gear,"  which  they  had  abstracted  by  fraud  and  imposture.  For,  demanding  baolw 
their  own,  the  protestant  world  has  been  put  under  the  pope's  weightiest  ban.  And 
every  priest  and  layman,  does  really  affect  to  believe,  that  for  this  thing  alone, — 
namely,  for  making  these  ghostly  thieves  and  robbers  refund  what  they  had  been,  for 
ages,  plundering  orF  the  nations, — every  Protestant  shall  be  doomed  to  hell!  Nor, 
can  we,  of  this  republic,  escape  !  All  the  earth  is  the  pope's  property;  and  as  he  is 
entitled  to  the  tithe  of  all  its  proceeds, — our  not  giving  this  to  his  representatives  and 
fireign  emisj^aries,  and  spies,  hero  among  us,  to  wit,  the  holy  bishops,  vicars,  and 
priests, — is  a  sin  which  will  send  us  all, — magistrates  and  people,  a  packing  into  infaU 
lible  and  inevitable  perdition. 

In  the  10th  section,  he  curses  "  those  who,  without  express  license,  from  the  Roman 
pontifT",  impose  taxes  or  tribute  on  Roman  prelates,  priests,  monasteries,  or  churches, 
&c."  Horo  the  curse  reaches  our  government,  and  our  legislature,  if  they  shall  vcn^ 
ture  to  tax  priests,  or  prie.':ts*  property,  '^without  express  license  of  the  pope.'' 

In  the  20th  section  ho  utters  the  doom  of  judges  and  magistrates,  who  shall  "sit  in 
judgment  on  a  bishop,  priest,  or  ecclesiastic,  with  express  license  from  the  Holy  Apos- 
tolical See !" 

In  the  22d,  the  pope  declares  this  Bull,  and  these  sentences  of  doom  binding  forever* 
unless  revoked  by  the  ])0[)c  for  the  time  being.  In  the  24,  he  utters  his  curse  against 
bishop  or  priest,  who  shall  dare  to  give  absolution  to  any  one  under  these  doijms,  "  ia 

28* 


{\IS  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTKOVERST. 

face  of  these  presents  ;  and  he  declares  that  "  he  will  proceed  to  severer  sjnritual,  and 
temporal  punishments,  as  he  shall  tliink  most  convenient." 

Lastly :'— This  extraordinary  document  is  introduced  with  these  words  :  *'  This. 
Bull — is  always  pronounced  at  Rome,  and  by  all  Roman  priests,  on  Thursday  be- 
fore Easter."  It  has  received  the  sanction,  and  addition  from  at  least  twent}^  popes. 
See  Bullarium  Magnum  Roinanum.  And  it  is  closed  with  the  assurance,  that  "  if  any 
shall  infringe  on  these  letters,  and  this  Bull,  or  oppose  them,  he  shall  certainly  incur 
the  wrath  o{  Almighty  God,  and  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 

4.  Additional  light  is  thrown  on  the  nature  of  the  Roman  catholic  subservi- 
ency to  a  foreign  despotism,  from  the  oath  which  chains  the  papal  bishops  and 
priesthood,  as  feudal  vassals,  to  the  foot  of  the  pope's  throne,  it  is  recorded  in 
Bulla  Pii  IV. ;  "  Omnia  a  sacris,  &c.  All  things  defined  by  the  canons,  and  general 
councils,  and  especially  by  the  Synod  of  Trent,  I  undoubtedly  receive,  and  profess  : 
and  all  things  contrary  to  them  I  reject,  and  curse,  and  from  my  dependents,  and 
others  under  my  care,  as  far  possible,  I  will  withhold.  And  the  catholic  faith  I  will 
teachT  explain,  and  enforce  upon  them." 

This  oath  binds  every  priest  to  hold  and  enforce  all  these  aforesaid  doctrines,  which 
we  have  recited  ;  and  which  are  so  essentially  despotic  ;  and  so  utterly  incompatible 
with  our  republican  institutions. 

I  subjoin  the  canonical  oath  which  every  prelate  must  take,  at  his  consecration. 
It  is  copied  from  Pontif.  Roman.  De  constc.  elect,  in  Episcop.  p.  57.  "  Ego  P.  P.  ab 
hac  hora,  &c.  I  fron.i  thi:^  hour  will  be  faithful,  and  obedient  to  my  Lord,  the  pope, 
and  his  successors"  (and  he  is  a  temporal  prince,  as  we  have  seen,  as  well  as  a  spirit- 
ual:) "the  council  they  entrust  to  me,  I  will  never  discover  to  any  man,  to  the  injury 
of  the  pope.  I  will  assist  them  to  retain  and  defend  the  popedom,  and  the  royalties 
of  St.  Peter,  against  all  men.  I  will  carefully  conserve,  defend,  and  promote  the 
rights,  honors,  privileges  and  authority  of  the  pope.  I  will  not  be  in  any  council, 
fact,  or  treaty,  in  which  anything  prejudicial  to  the  person,  rights,  or  power  of  the 
pope  is  contrived.  And  if  I  shall  know  any  such  things,  I  will  hinder  them  with  all 
mv  power,  and  will  speedily  make  them  known  to  the  pope.  To  the  utmost  of  my 
j>ow!-r,  I  will  observe  the  pope's  commands"  {temporal  of  course  and  spiritual)  "and 
I  will  make  others  observe  them.  And  i  will  impugn  and  persecute  all  heretics,  and 
all  rebels,  to  my  lord  the  pope." 

Now,  is  there  a  man  in  our  Republic,  who  does  not  see  that  such  men,  as  the 
priests  and  bishops,  who  are  the  vassals  of  a  foreign  court,— and  are  sworn  by  an 
oath  paramount  to  all  other  oaths,  to  act  on  such  dangerous  principles,— can  never 
be  true  citizens  !  To  be  republicans,  is,  on  their  part,  absolutely  impossible !  They 
are  initiated  into  despotism  :  from  their  earliest  habits,  they  are  trained  to  despotism  ; 
they  are  the  vassals  of  that  foreign,  haughty,  and  turbulent  despot,  the  pope;  whose 
court  has  kept  all  Em-ope  in  confusion  :  and  has  involved  all  nations  thereof  in  con- 
tinuous scenes  of  bloodshed,  rapine,  and  desolation,  for  upwards  of  twelve  hundred 
years!  They  are  the  successors  of  those  men  who  were  the  papal  tools  in  doing 
this :  and  they  come  among  us  to  re-enact  the  same  scenes.  I  hold  them  up  to  our 
fellow  citizens,  as  spies  in  our  camp  :  as  our  deadly  foes :  bound  together  by  a  fearful 
oath,  and  pledge  to  a  foreign  power,  to  compass  the  ruin  of  civil  and  religious  liberty ! 

I  implore  my  fellow  citizens  to  listen  to  the  words  of  the  famous  Rucellai,  the  secre- 
tary of  the  government  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany.  This  patriotic  man,  a  Ro- 
man catholic,  was  filled  with  indignation  at  the  proceedings  of  those  scourges  of  the 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVKRSr.  319 

human  family, — the  Romish  priests.  And  he  labored  with  the  Grand  Duke,  to  put 
down  tais  insulting  and  heaven  daring  Bulla  iti  Cotna  Domini.  In  the  close  of  his 
spirited  appeal  to  the  Grand  Duke,  this  faithful  secretary  says  : — "The  priests  ought 
to  be  punished  as  transgressors  of  national  laws.  Their  obedience  to  this  Bull  In 
Coena,  should  cease  to  operate  as  an  excuse  for  them.  That  Bull  is  published  every 
where;  its  principles  are  taught  in  the  schools," — yes!  and  also  in  every  popish 
seminary  in  the  United  States!  "It  is  inculcated  on  the  penitents  by  their  confessors; 
it  is  demonstratively  unjust:  it  is  subversive  of  all  the  rights  of  sovereignty,  of  law, 
of  good  order,  and  of  public  tranquillity !"  Nay,  exclaims  that  faithful  and  distin- 
guished statesman,  in  allusion  to  the  priestly  oaths ;  "  That  oath,  is  in  fact,  a  solemn 
promise  not  only  to  be  unfaithful  to  one's  lawful  government;  but  even  to  betray  it, 
as  often  as  the  Court  of  Rome's  interests  may  render  it  necessary  !"  See  Memoirs  of 
Scipio  de  Ricci.  ch.  3. 

These  are  the  atrocious  princi])les  of  the  men  who  are  pouring  in  their  legions  of 
Jesuit  priests  on  our  shores !  These  are  the  outrageous  principles,  and  politics  of  the 
men,  who  are  rearing  seminaries,  and  offering  to  teach  Protestant  children  the  true 
religion;  and  American  republicans,  sound  politics!!  These  are  the  revolutionizing 
principles  of  men,  who  are  looked  upon  with  so  much  indifference,  by  some  of  our 
statesmen,  and  carressed  as  sound  and  worthy  patriots,  by  others. 

I  lift  my  pleading  voice;  and  with  deep  solemnity  warn  every  christian ;  every 
politician;  every  magistrate;  and  every  statesman  in  the  land,  against  these  foreign 
emissaries,  of  a  foreign  despot!  By  your  love  of  country  ; — by  the  memory  of  your 
fathers  who  gallantly  braved  all  dangers,  and  broke  a  foreign  tyrant's  cruel  yoke  ; — 
by  the  souls  of  your  children,  and  those  yet  unborn, — I  implore  you,  throw  the  shield 
of  your  mighty  influence,  over  our  free  institutions,  and  liberties;  and  ward  off  the 
fatal  blow,  aimed  in  a  novel  assault  by  the  despotic  powers  of  Europe!  Study  the 
history  o(  Jesuitism  ;  popish  supremacy,  and  itslloody  deeds  in  Europe, — and  tremble 
for  your  country's  liberties!  This,  I  implore  you  to  remember,  is  no  sectional  ([ues- 
tion  !  It  is  no  question  of  sectarianism:  it  is  no  question  of  even  religion.  It  con- 
cerns every  lover  of  liberty,  and  of  his  country,  whatever  be  his  creed,  or  politics. 
The  broad  question  is  this, — shall  we  sit  quietly  still,  and  see  our  country  converted 
into  an  arena  of  Jesuitism,  despotism,  and  blood-shed,  like  another  Europe  which 
has  been  the  bloody  arena  of  an  atrocious  tyranny!  Or  shaJl  we,  by  ever}'  fair  and 
honorable  means — even  by  the  weapons  of  light  and  truth,  drive  by  one  harmonious 
et!brt,  the  enemy  from  our  schools,  from  our  sanctuary,  from  our  firesides,  and 
from  our  hap{)y  shores! 

I  am,  Rev.  Fathers,  yours.  &:c. 

W.  C.  B. 


g^(J  EOSIAN  CATBIOLIC    CONTROVfRsT. 


LETTER  XXXIII. 

TO    THE     LORD    ARCHBISHOP,    AND    THE     LORDS     BISHOPS     OF    THE     ROMAN    CATHOilC* 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

On  the  Six  Grand  Attributes  of  Popery,— Impurity,  Impiety,  Arrogance,  Treachery, 

Intolerance,  and  Cruelty. 

"No  great  slau2;hter,  and  no  notorious  calamity  hath  ever  happened,  either  to  church,  or 
state,  r,f  which  the  bishops  of  Rome  have  not  been  the  authors  !"  JE.  Sylvius,  afterwards 
pope  Pius  li.  in  his  Historia  Austria). 

Reverend  Fathers  : — On  the  pages  of  the  scriptares  the  rise  and  reign  of  a  sin- 
gular Power  are  graphically  delineated.  It  is  manifestly  distinguished,  by  Daniel- 
in  ch.  vii.  from  the  Jirst  beast,  the  Babylonian  empire  :  and  from  the  secimd,  ths 
Median  and  Persian:  and  from  the  third,  the  Grecian  :  and  from  the  fourth,  the  Ro- 
man pagan  empire.  The  singular  power  I  allude  to,  is  "the  Little  Horn,"  which 
sprang  up  among  the  ten  horns."  "  It  had  eyes  hke  the  eyes  of  man,  and  a  mouth 
speaking  great  things." 

The  apostle  John  also  distinguishes  it  from  the  Beast  rising  up  out  ol  the  sea ; 
namely,  the  Roman  empire  pagan,  rising  amid  the  turbulent  waves  of  the  nations. 
Rev.  xiii.  L  This  pagan  power  preceded  the  Beast  I  allude  to.  Rome  pagan  was, 
in  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  the  power  which  "  now," — in  his  time,  "  letteth  and  will 
let,  until  he  be  taken  out  of  the  way."  2  Thes.  ii.  7.  And  this  "letting"  power 
was  "taken  out  of  the  way,"  under  the  opening  of  the  sixth  seal,  in  the  days  of  Con- 
stantine,  when  paganism  was  overwhelmed,  and  utterly  destroyed  ;  as  a  persecuting 
power. 

It  was  upon  this  fall  of  the  Beast,  that  John,  in  Rev.  xiii.  11.  saw  "  another  Beast 
coming  up  out  of  the  earth,  having  two  horns  like  a  lamb  ;  but  speaking  as  a 
dragon."  This,  by  Paul,  is  called  "The  Man  of  Sin;"  and  by  John.  "Babylon  the 
Great," — even  a  greater  persecutor  than  the  first  Babylon.  Now,  these  predictions- 
cannot  be  referred  to  any  pagan  power. 

The  power  foretold  so  minutely  by  Paul,  arises  out  of  "  the  falling  rmw'?/,"--that 
is,  in  the  original  Greek, — the  apostacy,  from  that  which  Paul  taught :  that  is,  ih^ 
apostacy  from  the  christian  faith.  Hence  it  cannot  be  referred  to  any  Pagan,  or 
Mohammedan  power.  These  never  were  within  the  pale  of  the  church ;  they  can,, 
in  no  sense,  therefore,  be  the  apostacy  from  the  christian  faith. 

Now,  where,  within  the  name  and  limit  of  the  chrisli an  world,  shall  we  find  a 
power  answering  to  the  names  and  designation  here  presented  to  us,  by  Paul?  I  said, 
it  is  a  power  ;  for  it  is  evidently  not  applicable  to  one  inan,  or  a  few  ivicked  men ;  nor 
to  a  mere  moral,  and  theological  society,  such  as  that  of  Socinians,  Arians,  or  Deists. 
It  is  a  power  clothed  with  civil  power.  It  is  a  great  power,  which  the  Roman  impe- 
rial government,  as  it  existed  in  Paul's  da3^s,  "did  let,"  and  "would  let,"  until 
*'  removed  out  of  the  v/ay."  This  fact  determines  it  to  be  some  extensive  civil 
tyranny,  as  well  as  spiritual  tyranny,  or  "  apostacy''  springing  up,  within  the  limits  of 
tlie  christian  world.  Now,  there  is  not  a  power  that  has  ever  existed,  or  does  now 
exist,  in  which  this  description  can,  with  the  least  consistency  be  applied,  but  one. 
And  that  is, — the  Roman  catholic  hierarchy  :  the  attributes  of  which  are  these. 

jTtrsf:  Impurity.     Ug  is ''the  Man  of  Sin.''     The  pope,  his  cardinals,  and  court 


ROMAN  CA1H0LIC  C05TB0VERST,  321 

are  to  £.  proverb,  notoriously  profligate.  Such  writers  as  Baronvus,  Dupin,  and 
Bower  set  this  niiter  in  the  clearest  light.  Guicciardini,  the  historian,  and  secretary 
10  Pope  Leo  X,  when  spealdng  of  the  popes  of  the  15th  and  16th  centnHes,  frankly 
avers  that,  "  he  was  esteemed  a  good  pope,  who  did  not  exceed  in  wickedness,  the 
worst  of  men  !"  One  pope  (John  xxiii.)  was,  by  a  council,  convicted,  says  Labbeus, 
of  forty  crimes!  From  the  fountain  head  was  spread  like  a  mighty  lorrer.r,  universal 
pollution  and  crime,  over  all  Roman  catliolic  countries.  In  fine,  in  ad.lition  to  all 
that  I  have  already  exhibited,  I  refer  to  the  statements  of  Cardinal  Ambror- :  u.s  of  Ca- 
nadoli,  who,  in  visiting  his  diocese  "  could  not  find  even  the  traces  of  common 
decency  in  the  various  convents."  And  those  who  wish  to  contemplate  an  hones* 
portrait  of  the  holy  priests'  morals,  especially  since  celibacy,  thenraster  device  of  the 
devil,  and  pope  Gregory  vii.,  was  imposed  on  them,  can  consult  Edgar's  Variations- 
of  Pooery,  chap.  15.  "^  By  chastity,  the  priests  never  mean  what  honest  and  pure 
christians  mean.  With  priests  it  means  no  more  than  -  the  virtue  of  abjuring  mar- 
riage  ;"  while  every  nameless  enormity  and  shocking  crime,  which  destroyed  bodom-, 
is  perpetrated,  and  even  gloried  in  by  those  chaste  fathers!  European  and  South 
American  catholic  countries  groan  under  the  licentiousness  of  these  cleri -al  profli- 
gates! I  speik  soberiy  when  I  atBrm  that  church  history  sets  them  forth,  in  ge.jeral; 
and  those  of  Italy  and  Spain,  in  particular,  as  many  degrees  worse  than  the  priestsof 
pagan  lands,  in  ancient  or  modern  times  !  And,  as  if  personal  pollution  did  nf>t  redeem 
their  title  given  them  by  the  Spirit  of  God,— namely,  '•  the  Man  of  Sin,"— they  actu- 
ally traffic  in  sin  !  Hence,  their  indulgences  to  commit  sin,  and  absolutio7is  from  old 
crimes,  for  money !— Hence,  "  the  Tax  Book  of  the  Holy  Apostolical  chancery''  for- 
merly quo'fd  by  us,— in  which  is  set  down  a  regular  papal  tariff  of  the  different 
crimes,  absolved  for  money  ;  the  greater  crimes  being  always  the  most  piofiuible  to 
the  tren.-<u-y  of  the  pope  and  his  ravenous  priesthood  :  and  therefore,— though  with  a 
frown.— -il  ways  the  most  gladly  listened  to  at  the  confessional ! 

And  it  is  not  of  Romish  morals  in  the  dark  ages,  that  v/e  speak.  We  point  to  the 
vicious  morals  of  the  present  day,  in  Spain,  Austria,  France,  and  most  especially  in 
Italy.  For  the  nearer  we  come  to  the  head  quarters  of  his  '^Holiness,"  we  perceive 
their  atrocity  increased  in  a  frightful  ratio.  Eustace  in  his  Classical  Tbur,  vol.  iii. 
131,  speaking  of  the  notoriously  depraved  morals  of  Italy,  says,— "may  they  not  be 
ascribod  to  the  corruptions  of  the  natiojwl  religion  ;  to  tlie  faeilhy  of  «iso/^/^/on  ,•  and 
to  the  ea>y  purchase  orindulgences?"  "We  saw  a  man  at  Tivoli,"  says  a  niodern 
iravclh^r,  "who  had  stabbed  his  brother,  wlio  died  in  an  hour,  in  agonie?.  The 
murderer  went  to  Rome,  purchased  his  pardon  from  the  church,  and  received  a  written 
protection  from  a  cardinal;  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  walking  about,  imeon- 
oernedlv,  a  second  Cain,  whose  life  was  sacred."  Graham's  Three  Month's  Resi- 
dence  Sec.  p.  34.  "  Those  who  have  interest  with  the  pope,  may  obtain  an  alsolution 
in  full,  from  his  Holiness,  for  all  the  sins  they  have  ever  committed,  or  jnmf  choose  to 
commit.''  "I  h've  seen  one  of  these  edifying  documents,"  continues  the  traveller, 
"  is5ue<l  by  the  present  pope,  to  a  friend  of  mine."  Rome  in  the  19th  century,  vol.  ii. 
p.  271. 

Hence  we  are  warranted  in  saying  that  the  voice  of  sober  history  has  distinctly- 
pronounced  that  to  no  pagan,  and  to  no  other  apostate  religion,  under  the  heavens,  can 
the  extraordinary  title  of  "  Man  of  Sin,"  be  honestly  and  truly  appHed,  than  to  the 
Romish  church.  It  would  be  a  positive  breach  of  charity  in  a  christian,  to  apply  it 
to  a  pagan,  or  any  apostate  religion,  except  the  Roman  hierarchy. 


»322  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    COif TROVERST. 

The  'second,  and  tJiird  attributes  of  this  power  are  Impiety,  and  Arrogance,  which  I 
shall  examine  in  connection.  "He  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is 
called  God;  or  that  is  worshipped." 

This  divides  itself  into  a  twofold  count.  First,  "  He  opposeth  all  that  is  called 
God,  and  exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God."  Now  let  the  Bible  explain 
itself :  magistrates  are,  on  its  sacred  pages,  called  gods.  "  I  said  ye  are  gods."  Now 
I  revert  to  my  first  principle:  this  can  refer  to  no  Pagan,  Jew,  or  Mohammedan 
power.  These  grew  out  of  no  "  apostacy"  from  Christianity.  To  a  power  within 
the  limits  of  the  christian  world  alone,  is  it  applicable.  But  has  the  Roman  hierar- 
chy done  this  thing  that  is  here  laid  in  the  count  ?  She  has,  and  she  is  the  only  power 
within  the  christian  world  who  has  done  so.  What  Pope  Gregory  VH,  at  the  head 
of  a  Council  decreed,  has  been  the  audacious  practice  of  these  lordly  priests; — "The 
Pope  ought  to  be  called  Universal  Bishop;  he  alone  ought  to  wear  the  tokens  of  Im- 
pei'iai  dignity;  all  princes  ought  to  kiss  his  feet:  he  has  power  to  depose  emperors 
and  kings,  and  is  to  be  judged  by  none." 

The  Glossa  ui)on  Can.  2,  Cap.  15,  says — "  the  Pope  can  give  dispensations  against 
-the  gospel,  the  apostles,  and  the  law  of  nature."  Glossa,  Cap.  4.  Extrav.  Johan- 
nis  XXIL  "  Whosoever  shall  presumptuously  venture  to  maintain,  that  our  lord 
god  the  Pope,  cannot  thus  decree,  let  him  be  holden  as  a  heretic;"  and  Boniface  in 
his  bull,  says — "  God  has  set  us  up  over  kings  and  kingdoms,  to  root  up  and  destroy  ; 
whoso  thinketh  otherwise,  we  hold  him  as  a  heretic." 

Pope  Boniface  VIH.  concludes  his  famous  Bull  '•  Unam  sanctain,^'  with  the  follow- 
ing words; — "We,  therefore,  declare,  say,  define,  and  pronounce  it  to  be  necessari/ to 
salvation,  that  every  huraao  creature  should  be  obedient  to  the  Roman  Pontiff." 
Sext.  Decret.  extrav.  lib.  1. 

The  church  of  Roms  has  never  ceased  to  assert  her  temporal  jurisdiction  oTer 
princes  and  magistrate?.  I  refer  yon,  Fathers,  to  the  words  of  the  council  of  Con- 
stance, fifteenth  session: — "If  any  person  shall  presume  to  violate  the  statutes,  and 
ordinances  of  ^he  holy  council, — he  shall  be  deprived  of  all  dignities,  estates,  honors^ 
■offices,  andbentfces,  ecclesiastical  or  secular,  whether  he  be  emperor,  king,  cardinal, 
/)r  pope."  So  also  do  the  council  of  Trent,  Sess.  25.  In  the  Bull  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's "damnation,  and  excommunication,"  pope  Pius  V.  declares  that  "Almighty 
God  has  appointed  him,  the  pope,  prince  over  all  nations,  and  all  kingdoms,  that  he 
may  pluck  up,  destroy,  scatter,  ruin,  plant,  and  build."  See  Camden'b  Hist.  A.  D. 
1570. 

I  shall  give  a  few  extracts  from  "  the  Pope's  Book  of  ceremonies."  This  singular 
book  is  in  the  library  of  Dublin  college  :  it  was  shown  to  Mr.  Finch,  by  Dr.  Saddler, 
librarian.  It  is  entitled, — Sacrarum  Ceremon.  Rom.  Eccles.  Libri  Tres."  Cologn. 
Edit.  1571.— "1.  The  emperor  shall  hold  the  pope's  stirrup.  2.  The  emperor  shall 
lead  the  pope's  horse.  3.  He  must  bear  the  pope's  chair  on  his  shoulder. — 7.  He 
shall  carry  the  pope's  first  dish.  8.  He  shall  carry  the  pope's  first  cup."  See  Finch, 
Rom.  Controv.  p.  3!2. 

And  these  laws  of  the  ghostly  usurper  ore  fully  confirmed  by  history,  which  reveals 
how  com})leiely  "  the  ten  powers"  of  all  Europe  surrendered  their  power  to  "  the 
Beast:"  and  how  every  class  of  the  magistracy  has,  by  the  pope,  been  insulted, 
maltreated,  and  degraded  !  I  cannot  help  noticing  two  classes  of  facts,  which  set  this 
in  the  clearest  light,  First, — Popes  have  deposed  kings  and  emperors  ;  and  even 
get  their  feet  on  their  prostrate  uecks.     Need  I  refer  to  king  John  of  Engla^d,  anU 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONT»OV£RST.  323 

Henry  IV.  emperor  of  Germany  ?  Second, — Popes  have  audaciously  suspended  the 
laws  of  nations;  have  absolved  subjects  from  their  oath  of  aUegiance  to  their  lawful 
rulers;  nay,  the  wretched  priest,  residing  at  Rome,  has,  for  ages  exacted  tribute  from 
kings,  and  their  people,  as  his  subjects.  This  was  exacted  under  the  canting  name 
of  Peter's  pence,  in  Britain,  Ireland,  Spain,  France,  and  the  northern  nations  of 
Europe. 

There  was  one  item  more,  to  fill  up  the  features  of  "  the  j>ian  of  Sin,"  as  delineated 
hy  the  hand  of  unerring  inspiration.  The  pope  has  claimed  supreme  power  over 
"these  gods  below," — the  magistrates:  but  angels  are  "the  gods  above," — the  rulers 
in  heavenly  places.  The  pope  has  filled  up  the  full  mea;>ure  of  the  perfect  likeness 
of  "the  Man  of  Sin ;"  he  claims  supreme  power  also  over  the  angels  of  heaven.  For 
instance,  pope  Clement  VI.  in  hit;  bull  for  a  jubilee,  after  having  promised  pardon  of 
sins  past,  present,  and  to  come,  adds,  (p.  2.)  "  Et  mandamus  angelis  ut  animam  e 
purgatorio,  penilus  absolutam,  in  Paradisi  gloriam  introducaxit.  We  command  the  an- 
gels to  take  his  soul  out  of  purgatory,  wholly  clear  and  absolved,  and  introduce  it 
into  the  glory  of  Paradise."  But,  there  is  a  second  count  in  the  indictment: — "The 
Man  of  Sin — exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is  worship|)ed."  We  admit  that  the 
pagan  emperor  Avas  styled  Divus,  and  even  "  dominus  deus,  the  lord  god^  I 
revert  to  the  principle  laid  down.  The  power,  is  an  Apostate  power  from  Chris- 
tianity. And  we  need  only  to  open  the  pages  of  approved  Roman  writers  to  discover 
an  overpowering  evidence  that  the  Romish  church  is  here  intended.  "  Our  Lord 
god,  the  pope,"  is  a  common  appellation  of  each  pope.  "  Papa  non  est  humo,"  the 
pope  is  not  a  man."  "  The  pope  holds  the  place  of  the  true  God."  See  Piihou  29 
Canon  law,  Decret  i.  Tit.  7.  cap.  3.  Bellarmiue  in  the  famous  passage,  so  often  re- 
verted to,  teaches  the  pope's  absolute  infallibility  in  laying  down  articles  of  faith  ; 
and  precepts  of  morals:  and  adds  that  "if  the  pope  could  err,  by  enjoining  vices,  or 
prohibiting  virtues,  the  church  would  be  bound  to  believe  that  vices  were  virtues,  and 
virtues,  vices,  unless  she  chose  to  sin  against  her  conscience."  Be  Pcntif.  Lib.  IV. 
cap.  5.  Among  the  first  acts  after  a  pope's  election,  is  that  called,  the  adoration  of  the 
pope.  We  have  an  account  of  it  by  an  eye  witness,  in  Finch,  p.  322.  He  is  carried 
in  by  men,  and  placed  on  the  great  altar,  in  St.  Peter's,  where  the  host,  their  god, 
usuallv  is  laid ;  and  there  as  in  Thibet  this  man  god  is  adored,  even  as  their  host  is 
adored  ! — Every  man  admitted  to  the  pope  at  Rome  must  knp-^l  down,  and  kiss  his 
foot,  as  he  salutes  him  with, — '■'Dominus  noster  deus,  papa  ! — The  Lord  our  god  the 
pope!  And  this  godship  is  tliiis  claimed  by  pope  Clement  VII.,  nnd  his  cardinals,  in 
their  letter  to  Charles  VI,,  of  France: — "  As  there  is  only  one  God  in  the  heavens,  so 
there  cannot,  and  there  ought  not  to  be  but  one  God  on  earth," — meaning  himself! 
See  Troissard,  Tom.  iii.  147,  folio. 

But  the  arrogant  claims  of"  the  Son  of  perdition,"  are  not  confined  to  an  array  of 
divine  titles.  As  a  legislator  does  the  arrogant  blasphemer  scjit  himself  in  God's 
throne:  He  has  abrogated,  as  we  have  seen  in  a  former  letter,  all  Gcd's  ten  com- 
mandments: to  the  one  only  object  of  divine  worship,  has  he  added  a  host  of  false 
gods;  he  has  perverted  both  sacraments,  and  added  five  novelties  to  them:  he  puts 
the  mass  in  the  place  of  Christs'  atonement;  and  holy  water,  and  outward  rites  of 
cleansing,  in  the  stead  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Thus,  has  he  cli.  nged  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Most  High,  as  far  as  his  power  can  do  it.  And,  as  if  venturing  the 
utmost  daring,  the  unmatched  blasphemer  has  set  up  his  claims  of  right  to  the  keys  of 
hell,  and  of  heaven.     He  saves;  he  damns,  when  he  will!     I  appeal  to  his  Bulls  of 


324  ROBLAIf    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST. 

excommunication,  in  proof  of  this.  I  open  the  book  at  random  :  I  fall  on  the  Bull  of 
Pius  v.,  against  the  Queen  of  England.  In  this,  I  have  the  proof  of  both  points. 
He  decl.Lies  that  his  catholics  alone  are  saved  :  he  opens  the  gates  of  heaven  to  non« 
but  those  of  Holy  Mother, — "extra  quam  nulla  salus  est:  out  of  her,  there  is  no  sal- 
vation.'' Hence  he  condemns  the  soul,  as  well  as  body;  hence  the  titla  of  the  Bull  of 
Pius  v.,  against  the  Queen  of  England, — "  the  damnation  of  Queen  Ehzabeth." 
There  was  only  one  step  more  that  he  could  go, — and  that  he  has  gone  too.  He 
has  actually  set  up  his  claim  in  a  physical,  as  well  as  a  moral  sense,  above  ''  all  that 
is  wor.bhipjicd."  I  allude  to  what  I  have  again  and  again  brought  before  ihe  public. 
In  every  mass-house,  the  pope  and  his  delegates,  the  priests,  by  nnitteriug  the  con- 
secration words  ^^  hoc  est  corpus  mcum,''  convert  a  wafer  into  "the  body  aud  blood 
soul  and  divinity  of  Christ!"  He  and  his  lieutenants  thus  do  cnate  iheir  Creator, 
ten  thousand  times !  And  having  ten  thousand  times  eaten,  "their  Creator,"  they 
again  create  him,  ten  thousand  times  more  ! 

May  I  be  permitted  here  to  advert  briefly  to  the  graphic  delineation  of  this  power 
by  St.  Paul,  in  3  Tim.  iv.  1 — 4.,  in  order  to  throw  an  additional  illustration  on  these 
papal  attributes,  fnmi  that  striking  text  ? — It  is  a  power  which  "  has  departed  from  tht 
faith,''  "that  is,  the  christian  faiih.  Hence  it  cannot  be  lefened  to  any  pagan,  or 
Jewish,  or  Mohammedan,  or  atheistic  power.  It  is  an  apostate  christian  society^ 
Now  mirk  the  full  length,  and  perfect  portrait,  of  popery!  First,  it  gives  "heed  to 
the  doctrines  of  devils;"  in  Greek,  demons.  By  demons  is  understood,  according 
to  the  ideas  of  the  ancients,  that  class  of  beings  between  the  immortal  God,  ann  mortal 
men,  that,  is,  deified  spirits  of  men;  that  is,  canonized  saints;  elevated  to  the  rank  of 
inferior  v.orship. 

Now,  let  any  candid  man,  Roman  catholic,  or  protestant,  name  a  power,  within 
the  limi.s  of  the  christian  world,  which  has  set  up  canonized  sain*-,  and  also  angels, 
for  worship,  besides  the  Romish  church.  Who  is  it  that  iias  its  altars  reared  to  them, 
its  shrines,  its  images,  and  temples?  The  Romish  church.  Who  has  its  enshrined 
relics  for  adoration  ?  The  Romish  church.  Who  burns  its  incense  before  an  innu- 
merable host  of  gods  and  goddesses,  surnamed  saints?     The  Romish  cJiurch. 

Seconal :  It  is  said  of  this  apostacy  from  the  faith,  that  it  shall  forbid  to  marry." 
Among  ilie  fanatical  pagan  priests,  ancient  and  modern,  in  the  Eastern  world,  the 
state  of  ct'iibacy  has  been  bepraised  to  the  skies,  Justin  proj)oriionto  their  lewdness; 
jand  marriage  has  been,  of  course,  forbidden.  But  this  passage  of  Fai.l  refers  only  to 
those  who  ''had  departed  from  the  christian  fa  ith.'^  To  no  pagans,  tiierefore,  can  it 
be  applied.  Now  what  pou'er  is  it,  within  the  christian  woid,  that  fcjrbids  marriage? 
Do  you  Rev.  Fathers,  and  your  chaste  priests  answer,  by  an  extract  from  your  vow 
oichastitj.  Why  do  you  not  raarr^s  like  other  honest  men?  Why, — the  answer  is 
written  om  ^  our  forehead,  and  in  "your  morals, — because  you  obey  that  diabolical 
APOSTACY,  wlrc'i  *' forbids  to  marry." 

Third:  This  apostate  power  commands  "to  abstain  from  certain  meats,  which 
God  hath  creased."  Now,  determining  the  meaning  of  this  by  the  pvinciple  already- 
laid  down,  what  power  witliin  the  whole  range  of  Christendom,  commands  "to 
abstain  from  meats ;"  and  makes  this  abstaining  from  meats,  a  portif>n  of  its  religion  ? 
Let  our  learned  priests  answer  the  question,  who  would  pronounce  their  terrific 
anathema  on  their  followers,  and  doom  even  to  hell  fire  all  those  who  would  dare  to 
tat  meat  in  Lent,  and  on  Fridays,  and  until  lately,  on  Saturdays.  To  the  Roman 
hierarchy  is  this  descriptive  prophesy  wholly  applicable ;  ziid  to  it  alone.     Henee 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  325 

the  Roman  church   is    that  impious  Man    of  Sin.,  and  arrogant   Son  of  perdition, 
spoken  of  by  Paul. 

Thus  far  have  we  treated  of  the  first  three  attributes  of  popery. 

I  am,  Rev.  Fathers,  yours,  &c. 
VY.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXXIV. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,     AND    THE    LORDS    BISHOPS,     OF    THE     ROMAN     CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

On  the  Six  Grand  Attributes  of  Popery, — Impurity,  Impiety,  Arrogance,  Treachery, 

Intolerance,  and  Cruelty. 

*'  Art  thou  that  traitor  angel,  art  thcj  he, 

Who  first  broke  peace  in  heaven,  and  faith,  till  then 

Unbroken,  and  in  proud  rebellious  arms 

Drew  after  him  t!ie  third  part  of  Heaven's  sons 

Conjured  against  the  Highest?"  Miltox. 

Reverend  Fathers  : — The  fourth  grand  attribute  of  popery,  is  Treachery  ;  to 
this  I  beg  your  usual  indulgent  attention.  Jesuitism  was  revived  by  Pope  Pius  vii. 
in  1814  -,  and  Jesuitism  in  its  primitive  virulence,  is  poured  forth  in  a  wide  inunda- 
tion, over  our  land,  by  the  spiritual  despots  of  Italy,  France,  and  Austria.  And  every 
one  knows  that  Jesuitism  is  now  a  regular  classical  English  word  for  Treachery. 

1st.  I  shall  quote  a  few  specimens  of  their  avowed  moral  tenets,  in  addition  to  what 
has  been  formerly  quoted  by  us. 

"  They  do  not  falsify,  who  to  replace  a  lost  title  of  heirship,  forge  another."  Sa, 
Aphor.  p.  1.50. — "If  any  one  promised,  or  contracted,  without  intention  to  promise; 
and  is  called,  upon  oath,  to  answer,  he  may  simply  answer.  No.  And  he  may 
swear  to  this  denial,  by  secretly  understanding  that  he  did  sincerely  promise  ;  or  that 
he  did  promise  without  any  intention  to  acknowledge  it."  Suarez  Ju.  Precept  Lib. 
3.  cap.  9.  p.  473.  "  A  person  may  take  an  oath  that  he  has  not  done  such  a  thing, 
though  he  has,  in  fact,  done  it,  by  saying  to  himself,  it  was  not  done  on  a  certain 
day;  or,  before  he  was  born,  &:c." — Sanchez,  Oper.  Moral  precept.  Decal.  pars  2  ; 
Lib.  3.  cap.  G.  No.  13— "  He  who  is  not  bound  to  tell  the  truth  before  swearing,  is 
not  bound  by  his  oath;  provided  he  makes  the  infernal  restriction  that  excludes  the 
present  case."  Charli,  Prop.  G.  p.  8.  "A  priest  is  not  bound  to  declare  the  truth 
before  a  lawful  judge  ;  for  a  priest  cannot  be  forced  to  testify  before  a  secular  judge.'' 
Tabtrna,  vol.  ii.  p.  288.  "  The  rebellion  of  a  ])riest  is  not  treason,  for  Catholic 
priests  are  not  subject  to  civil  government.''  Em.  Sa.  Aphor.  p.  41.  And  here  is  the 
sentiment  of  Bellarmine,  which  every  priest  in  the  United  States  is  solemnly  sworn 
on  the  cross,  to  believe,  and  to  carry  into  practice,  whenever  it  is  practicable,  "on 
pain  of  damnation," — "The  spiritual  power  must  rule  the  temporal  by  all  sorts  of 
means,  and  expedients  that  may  seem  necessary."  "  The  pope — potest  mutare  reg- 
na  Sec.  can  change  kingdoms;  can  take  away  power  from  one  prince,  and  give  it  to 
another,  in  his  character  as  chief  spiritual  Prince."  "The  pope  cannot,  as  pope, 
enact  and  annul  laws,  ordinarily,  as  if  he  were  a  political  prince:  he  can  enact  civil 
laws  and  confirm  them,  or  abolish  them,  if  such  be  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  souls, 

29 


326  ROMAN   CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

and  kings  be  unwilling  to  enact  them."  "  The  civil  power  is  subject  to  the  spiritual ; 
poiestas  civilis  subjecta  est  potesiati  spirituali ;  therefore,  the  spiritual  prince,  the  pope 
ean  rule  over  temporal  princes,  and  magistrates.  In  every  case,  must  the  spiritual, 
which  is  the  superior,  bear  rule  over  the  temporal,  which  is  inferior."  See  Bell.  J)e 
Pontif.  Lib.  v.  cap.  6,  7.  p.  p.  1094,  1095.,  of  my  copy.  I  beg  to  give  a  few  more 
sj>eciraens. 

"The  pope  can  annul,  and  cancel  every  possible  obligation  arising  from  an  oath." 
Lessius,  Lib.  ii.  cap.  42.  p.  632.  "  A  man  condemntd  by  the  pope,'*— (such  as  a 
Jew,  a  Protestant,  a  deist,)  may  be  killed  wherever  he  is  found."  Lg  Croix,  vol.  i. 
p.  294%  "  A  child  may  steal  from  his  father,  as  much  as  the  father  would  have 
given  to  a  stranger,  for  compensation."  Escobar,  Theol.  Moral,  vol.  iv.  p.  348. 
'*  Servants  may  steal  from  their  masters  as  much  as  they  judge  their  labor  worth, 
more  than  the  wages  they  receive."  Cardenas,  Cris.  Theol.  Diss.  23.  cap.  2.  p.  474. 
And  Lud.  Molina,  vol.  ii.  p.  1150.  (My  copy  is  the  Mentz  Edit,  of  1614.)  "It  is 
lawful  to  kill  an  accuser,  whose  testimony  may  jeopard  your  life  or  honor."  Esco- 
bar, Theol.  Moral*  vol.  iv.  p.  274.  "Licet  procurare  abortum,  ne  puella  gravida 
infametur,"  &c.  Marin.  Theol.  vol.  iii.  p.  428.  This  I  must  not  translate.  "If  a 
man  become  a  nuisance  to  society,  the  son  mat/  lawfully  kill  his  father.'''  Dicastillo, 
Lib.  ii.  p.  290.  Such  is  a  mere  gleaningof  their  atrocious  tenets.  And  in  the  redu- 
cing of  them  to  practice  they  are  mo^i  faith ful  in  every  element  of  their  treachery! 
The  history  of  all  the  governments  of  Europe,  who  have  all  in  their  turns,  expelled 
them,  testify  to  this  !  And  the  faithful  historian  o^  future  America,  if  ever,  by  the 
wrath  of  Gjd,  they  gain  the  ascendancy  here,  will  bear  an  appalling  testimony  to  the 
same  melan'jholy  truths  ;  in  the  tears,  and  assassinations,  and  massacres  of  our  chil- 
dren's children ! 

From  these  avowed  tenets,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  a  Roman  catholic  can  take  any 
oath,  be  it  befjre  a  civil  court,  or  the  oath  of  allegianc'%  and  yet  never  design,  in  sober 
truth,  to  consider  himself  Lound  by  it!  Yes,  m\'  fellow  citizens;  and  he  is  quite  con- 
sistent on  his  principles;  for  he  has  tioo  ways  of  escaping  as  the  deluded  man 
believes,  without  peijury  resting,  in  its  damning  guilt,  on  his^oul.  First ;  by  mental 
reservation.  Second,  by  the  priest's  power  to  absolve  him  from  ii.  There  is  another 
and  a  practical  way  to  evade  their  oath.  A  friend  of  mine  was  present  one  day, 
when  a  Roman  catholic,  in  New  York,  boasted  that  he  had  voted  at  th  rce  different  poles : 
and  took  the  oath  three  times,  that  he  was  a  citizen,  and  had  resided  the  retiuisite  time 
in  each  of  the  three  wards,  at  once:  "I  caught  them,"  said  the  Jesuit,  "thus  :  I  put 
my  thumb  across  the  holy  sign  of  the  cross,  on  the  book  ;  and  kissed  my  thumb!  And 
that  you  know,  is  no  oath  at  all, — at  all  !"  This,  as  observers  see,  is  no  uncommon 
thing  with  our  Romans,  in  our  civil,  and  criminal  courts! 

2d.  ''Keep  no  faith  with  heretics,''  is  a  regular  dogma,  and  a  solemn  doctrine  of  the 
Roman  catholic  church.  ;, 

The  denial  of  this  has,  lately,  been  repeated  by  a  venerable  citizen  in  Philadel- 
phia. Will  sober  readers  of  history  believe  it  that  such  a  man  as  Mr.  C.  gravely 
denies  it  ?  No  man  can  question  Mr.  C's.  honor  or  sincerity.  It  is  purely  his  want  of 
knowledge  of  the  Roman  catholic  standard  doctrines  that  has  led  him  to  the  rash  as- 
sertion. 

He  has  appealed,  it  is  true,  to  the  answers  of  the  famous  foreign  Universities,  to  the 
questions  proposed  by  the  late  Mr.  Pitt.  These  grave  societies,  combining  all  the 
learning,  and  honor  of  the  Romish  world,  really  affect  to  start  wiih  horror  at  the  bare 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 


327 


suspicion  of  their  Holy  Mother  ever  having  held,  or  taught  that  "  no  faith  must  be  kept 
with  heretics!"  They  all  flatly  and  solemnly  deny  that  their  church  ever  held  it,  or 
ever  taught  it.     And  they  even  lay  these  denials  before  the  British  government! 

Here,  again,  Mr.  C.  betrays  his  painful  ignorance  of  the  manners  and  besetting  sin 
of  all  Roman  ecclesiastics  :  I  do  not  say  lay  gentlemen,  but  of  priests,  under  ^vhose 
Jesuitism  those  Universities  are  sordidly  enchained.  No  shrewd  politician,  nor  chris- 
tian is  deceived  by  these  answers,  for  one  moment.  Every  body  read  in  history,  and 
in  popish  Bulls,  canons,  and  theology,  as  the  professors  of  these  same  Universities 
are,  know  in  the  most  perfect  manner,  that  there  is  no  truth  whatever  in  their  re 
plies  to  Mr.  Pitt.  These  were  uttered  merely  for  effect,  and  did  any  one  yet  ever 
hear  the  criminals  at  the  bar  reply  otherwise  than  not  guilty,  to  the  usual  question 
put  to  them.  Mr.  Pitt  as  a  well  read  man,  could  expect  no  other  answer;  and  he  got 
no  other,  than  what  these  ghostly  criminals  chose  to  give,  "  we  plead  not  guilty. '' 

Now  I  shall  go  directly  to  the  decretals  and  the  pope's  bureau,  and  to  historical 
documents.  Will  you  follow  me,  Fathers,  while  I  try  your  pleas  of  not  guilty 
of  ev^er  holding  the  dogma  "  That  no  faith  is  to  be  kept  with  heretics.'" 

Gregory  VII.  in  a  council  at  Rome,  declares,  "  We,  following  the  statutes  of  our 
predecessors,  do,  by  our  apostolic  authority,  absolve  all  those  from  their  oath  of 
fidelity,  who  are  bound  to  excommunicated  persons,  either  by  duty  or  oath;  and  w« 
unloose  them  from  every  tie  of  obedience,  till  the  excommunicated  persons  have 
made  proper  satisfaction,"     Decret.  2  part.  caus.  15.  quest.  6. 

Urban  H.  teaches  the  same  doctrine.  "  You  are  to  discharge  the  soldiers,"  says 
he,  "  who  have  sworn  jidelity  to  Count  Hugo,  from  paying  any  obedience  while  he 
is  excommunicated :  for  they  are  not  obliged  to  keep  that  fidelity  inviolate,  which 
they  have  sivorn  to  a  christian  prince,  who  opposes  Cod,  and  his  saints,  and  despise* 
their  precepts." — Ibid. 

Gregory  IX.  has  laid  down  the  general  principle  with  the  utmost  care  and  pre- 
cision. "Be  it  known  to  all  who  are  under  the  dominion  of  heretics,  that  they  are 
set  free  from  every  tie  of  fidelity  and  duty  to  them;  all  oaths  or  solemn  agreement  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding.'"     Decret.  Greg.  lib.  5.  tit.  7. 

Clement  XI.  being  enraged  at  the  treaty  of  Alt-Rhastat,  says  in  his  Brief  to  the 
emperor  Charles  VI.,  "  We  denounce  to  you,  and,  by  the  authority  given  us,  by  the 
Most  Almighty  God,  do  declare  the  covenants  of  that  treaty,  &c.  &c.  to  be,  de  jure, 
null  and  void,  invalid,  unjust,  reprobated,  &c. ;  that  no  person  is  bound  to  the  observ- 
ation of  them,  or  any  of  them,  although  the  same  have  been  repeatedly  ratified,  or 
secured  by  an  oath  ;  and  they  neither  could  nor  ought  to  have  been,  nor  can  nor 
ought  to  be,  observed  by  any  person  whatsoever,"  &.c. 

Here  are  a  few  more  gleanings  from  the  papal  decretals.— Martin  V.  in  his  epistle 
to  the  Duke  of  Lithuania  says,— "  Be  assured  thou  sinnest  mortally,  if  thou  keep 
thy  faith  with  heretics."  St.  Thomas  Arjuinas  is  of  the  same  opinion,  "  that  a 
catholic  might  deliver  over  an  untractable  heretic  to  tlie  judges,  although  he  had 
solemnly  pledged  his  faith  to  him  ;  and  even  confirmed  it  by  the  solemnity  of  an 
oath."     Bruce's  Free  Thoughts,  &c.  p.  119. 

Bonacino  says, — ''Contracts  made  against  the  canon  law,  are  invalid,  even  though 
confirmed  by  an  oath  ;  and  a  man  is  not  bound  to  stand  by  his  promise,  even  though 
he  had  sworn  it."  Pope  Pius  V.  taught  the  emj)eror,  and  exhorted  him,— "Nee  fidem, 
&c.  That  no  faith,  nor  oaths  were  to  be  kept  with  an  infidel."  Pope  Innocent 
VIII.  in  his  edict  against  the  Waldenses,  in  A.  D.  1487,  declared,  as  the  vicar  of 


328  ROMAN  CATHCLIC  CONTRO VERST. 

God,  that — "  all  those  persons  who  had  been  bound  by  any  contract  whatever,  to 
grant,  or  pay  any  thing  to  them,  should  not  be  under  any  manner  of  obligation,  to 
do  so,  for  the  time  to  come." 

And,  Fathers,  what  pope,  and  general  council  openly  avouched  that  no  faith  must 
be  kept  with  heretics?  Innocent  IV.,  and  the  council  of  Lyons,  when  they  deposed 
the  emperor  Frederick  II.,  and  absolved  his  subjects  from  their  oath  of  allegiance  to 
their  lawful  prince !  Who  avouched  that  no  faith  must  be  kept  with  heretics  ?  That 
pope  who  absolved  the  subjects  of  king  John  from  their  lawful  oath  of  allegiance ! 
Who  avowed  that  no  faith  must  be  kept  with  heretics?  Pope  Pius  V.  who  doomed 
EHzabeih,  and  set  her  subjects  free  from  their  oath  to  their  lawful  sovereign  !  Who 
was  guilty  of  thal^octrine  of  devils  that  no  faith  is  to  be  kept  with  Jews,  Turks,  or 
heretics?  That  ghostly  villain,  pope  Clement  VII.,  who  disjjensed  with  the  corona- 
tion oath  of  the  king  of 'Spain,  the  emperor  Charles  V.,  in  the  year  1524;  and  com- 
pelled that  prince  in  the  face  of  the  world,  to  break  his  faith  pledged  by  oath,  to  protect 
the  Moors;  and  thence  to  turn  that  whole  race,  in  Spain,  over  to  the  infernal  Inqui- 
sition! See  the  Spanish  Hist,  of  this  period :  and  Geddes'  Works  on  popery,  vol.  i. 
p.  36.  39. 

And  to  suit  the  orthodoxy  of  those  who  judge  a  council  superior  to  the  pope,  1  beg 
leave  to  say  that  this  dogma  has  been  settled  by  the  decree,  and  by  the  practice,  of  a 
general  council  of  your  church.  The  council  of  Constance,  in  1414,  did  solemnly 
decree  that  "no  faith  shall  be  kept  with  heretics."  Here  are  their  words: — "The 
person  who  has  given  them  the  safe  conduct  to  come  thither,  shall  not,  in  this  case, 
be  obliged  to  keep  his  promise,  by  whatever  tie  he  may  have  been  engaged,  ivhen  he  has 
done  all  that  has  been  in  his  power  to  do.''^     Bruce,  Free  Thoughts,  p.  120. 

Nor  was  this  a  bold  theory  in  the  brains  of  licentious  priests.  It  was,  with  that 
savage  ferociousness,  the  usual  characteristic  of  Romish  priests,  reduced  into  practice, 
in  a  horrible  tragedy  in  Europe.  The  immortal  John  Hnsshad  come  to  this  council 
under  the  solemn  pledge,  and  safeguard  of  the  emperor  Sigismund.  These  ghostly 
judges,  amid  their  revellings,  and  debauchery,  found  a  brief  space  of  relaxation,  to 
condemn  the  holy  man  as  a  heretic.  Thej^  doomed  him  to  the  flames  !  The  emperor 
interposed  :  pleaded  his  safeguard  that  had  been  pledged  to  Huss,  on  his  royal  honor. 
Of  all  beings  that  walk  the  face  of  God's  earth,  the  priests  of  a  false  religion,  are  the 
most  destitute  of  honor,  common  decency,  and  the  bowels  of  pity.  Charles  V.,  at  a 
later  day,  had  the  resolution  to  reject  with  a  noble  firmness,  the  pleas  of  the  inhuman 
assassins,  who  sought  Luther's  blood,  with  an  appetite  as  keen  as  that  of  a  New 
Zealand  cannibal!  When  pleading  with  him,  and  urging  with  indecent  zeal,  that 
no  faith  should  be  kept  with  heretics,  he  nobly  replied  to  the  savage  teachers  of  Jesuit 
morals,  "What!  when  good  faith  is  banished  from  the  earth, — ought  it  not  to  be 
found  with  an  emperor  !" 

But,  alas  i  for  John  Huss, — Sigismund  had  not  this  honor  nor  firmness.  He  yielded 
to  the  spiritual  assassins  of  the  council  of  Constance,  and  Huss  was  consigned  alive 
to  the  flames!  And  shortly  after  him,  also,  Jerome  of  Pragvt  !  The  council  of 
Trent  formally  recognized  the  decrees  of  Constance.  Hence  this  doctrine  "of  keep- 
ing no  faith  with  heretics,"  is  as  much  a  regular  dogma  of  the  Komish  church,  as  is 
the  mass,  or  purgatory,  or  the  pope's  supremacy. 

I  conclude  the  specimens  of  Treachery  with  the  following  extracts  from  "  The  oath 
of  secrecy  devised  by  the  Roman  clergy,  as  it  remains  on  record  in  Paris,  among  the 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 


329 


society  of  Jesuits."  It  is  copied  from  a  collection  of  papers  by  Archbishop  Usher. 
It  exhibits  to  American  citizens,  the  stcrtt  oath,  by  which  all  Jesuits  are  bound  to  the 
pope,  and  their  foreign  superiors.  I  beg  the  attention  of  every  christian,  and  patriot 
in  the  land,  to  this  document. 

Secret  Oath.—''  In  the  presence  of  Almighty  God,  and  of  all  the  saints,  to  you, 
my  ghostly  father,  I  do  declare  that  his  holiness,  pope ,  is  Christ's  vicar- 
general,  and  the  only  head  of  the  universal  church  throughout  the  earth  :  and  that 
by  virtue  of  the  keys  given  him  by  my  Savior,  Jesus  Christ,  he  hath  jpoicer  to  depose 
heretical  kings,  princes,  states,  commonwealths,  and  governments  ;  all  being  illegal^ 
without  his  sacred  confirmation ;  and  that  they  may  safely  be  destroyed.  Therefore  I, 
to  the  utmost  of  my  power,  shall  and  ivill  defend  this  doctrine,  and  his  holiness'  rights 
and  custojns  against  all  usurpers,"  &ic. 

''I  do  renounce  and  disown  any  allegiance  as  due  to  any  heretical  king,  prince, 
state,  named  Protestants,  or  obedience  to  any  of  their  inferior  magistrates,  or  officers.'' 

'*  1  do  further  promise  and  declare  that  notwithstanding  /  am  dispensed  with,  to  as- 
sume any  religion  heretical,  for  the  propagation  of  the  Mother  church's  interest,— to 
keep  secret  and  private  all  her  agent's  counsels,"  &c. 

''AH  which  I,  A.  B.  do  swear  by  the  blessed  Trinity,  and  the  blessed  sacrament, 
which  I  am,  now,  to  receive.  And  I  call  all  the  heavenly  and  glorious  hosts  above, 
to  witness  these  my  real  inten'ions,  to  keep  this  my  oath.  In  testimony  hereof,  I 
take  this  most  blessed  sacrament  of  the  eucharist,  and  set  to  my  hand,  and  seal." 
Such  is  the  secret  oath  of  our  Jesuits,  so  long  in  use,  and  never  revoked  to  this  day, 
by  their  superior,  or  the  pope  Such  is  the  infernal  oath  by  which  the  Jesuits,  and 
other  household  troops  of  the  Roman  catholic  powers  of  Europe,  now  pouring  in  upon 
us,  are  banded  together  in  their  present  conspiracy  against  our  republic,  and  our  holy 
religion  ! 

May  the  God  of  our  fathers,  in  his  compassion,  awake  our  fellow  citizens  to  a  sense 
of  their  real,  and  appalling  danger,  and  turn  into  confusion  the  counsels  of  the  leaders 
of  this  hellish  plot  against  our  country.  And  to  this  none  can  refuse  their  hearty 
Amen,  but  spiritual  tyrants,  and  conscious  traitors. 

I  am,  my  Lords  Bishops,  yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B, 


LETTER  XXXV. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,    AND    THE     LORDS    BISHOPS    OF    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

On  the  Six  Grand  Attributes  of  Popery,— Impurity,  Impiety,  Arrogance,  Treachery, 

Intolerance,  and  Cruelty. 

"No  illusion  is  more  dangerous  than  to  make  toleration  of  religious  sects,  a  mark  of  the 
true  church!" — Bossuct,  Oeuvres,  Tom.  Hi.  411, 

Reverend  Fathers: — I  am  quite  aware  that  your  good  sense  approves  my  direct 
appeals  to  documents,  instead  of  assertions,  and  declamation :  let  us  then  go  on.  The 
Fifth  attribute  of  your  church  is  Intolerance.  This  and  Cruelty,  has  ever  been  your 
eminently  characteristic  marks.     And  this  struck  the  eye  of  the  holy  John  in  vision, 

20* 


330  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVEKSr. 

He  saw  *'tlie  scarlet  colored  Beast,''  bearing  along  in  stialely  procession,  the  woman 
of  Babylon  in  fiery  scarlet  colors,  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  of  Jesus."  Now,  this  is  not  fulfilled,  ultimately,  in  the  scarlet  robed  pope, 
and  his  scarlet  chair,  his  scarlet  robed  priesthood  on  Maunday  Thursdays;  and  the 
scarlet  robed  cardinals,  with  their  scarlet  hats,  their  scarlet  chariots,  and  scarlet  horse 
trappings!  This  we  enumerate  among  the  striking  coincidents  of  the  case.  It  looks 
to  a  deeper,  a  more  atrocious,  and  damning  attribute  of  popery,  which  we  are  now  to 
consider. 

Boniface  VII.,  in  Extravagantes,  declares  the  principle  on  which  all  papists  be- 
lieve and  act;  namely, — "Omnes  Christi  fideles,  &c.  It  is  necessarjMo  salvation 
that  all  christians  should  be  subject  to  the  pope."  "  Papa  est,  &c.  The  pope  is 
monarch  of  all  christians;  he  is  supreme  over  all  mortals."  Bzovius,  De  Pontif. 
Roman  Col.  Agrip.  cap.  1,  3,  J  6,  32,  and  45. 

The  present  pope  keeps  alive  this  intolerant  dogma,  in  our  day.  "On  the  holy 
See,"  says  Gregory  XVI.,  "do  the  churches  depend  for  support,  and  vigor!"  (En- 
cyc.  Letter.)  In  this  Bull,  he  denounces  freedom  of  ophiion,  as  "a  senseless  free- 
dom.'-' "He,  alone,  has  the  dispensation  of  the  canons:  he,  alone,  decides  on  the 
rules  of  the  saijction  of  the  fathers."  Hence  neither  priest,  nor  layman,  neither 
sovereign,  nor  council,  can  dictate  to  him,  in  temporals,  or  spirituals  !  He  pronounces 
"liberty  of  conscience  an  absurd  and  erroneous  opinion,  a  delirious  conceit!"  He 
holds  up  the  freedom  of  the  press,  every  where,  to  catholic  indignation,  "  a  never- 
to-be-sufficiently  execrated  liberty  of  booksellers!"  He  is  "horror-btiicken,"  at  the 
spread  of  knowledge:  it  is  his  deadliest  foe.  And,  thus,  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  pojjcre  news  the  sentiment  preached  three  centuries  ago,  by  the  vicar  of  Croy- 
don,— namely,  "  TFe  must  root  out  printing,  or  printing  will  root  us  out  /"  He  ap- 
plauds the  salutary  Index  Expurgatorius,  by  which  all  our  theological  works,  and 
almost  all  our  classical  English  authors,  are  prohibited! 

Your  council  of  Trent,  Sess.  4,  prohibited  "the  free  and  promiscuous  reading  of 
the  holy  scriptures, — as  causing  more  tvil  than  good.''  Hence,  the  liomish  church 
places  the  holy  Bible  in  the  Index, — not  merely  Protestant  translations,  but  their  own 
Douay,  and  all  other  versions  in  any  vernacular,  as  proliibited  books,  not  to  be  read  by 
any  man,  without  a  written  license  from  a  bishop." 

Your  po]ie  Pius  VII.,  issued  his  Bull  against  pible  societies  in  J816;  and  pro- 
nounced them  "a  shocking  and  most  crafty  device,  to  sap  the  ver}'  foundations  of 
rehgion."     See  a  copy  of  this  Bull,  in  Glasg.  Prot.  Anier.  Edit.  vol.  i.  cli.  33. 

In  short,  cast  your  eyes  over  Roman  catholic  lands.  There  your  pope  prohibits, 
under  pam  of  death,  all  Protes^tants  to  teach  their  religion,  wherever  he  has  control. 
Your  pope,  and  the  priest-ridden  despots  of  Europe,  prohibit  every  man  from  uttering 
under  the  penalty  of  the  dungeon,  even  an  opinion  against  your  church,  or  the  govern- 
ment ! 

Romish  lands  arc  the  lands  of  lohite  slaves.'  The  very  soul  is  in  chains.  Your 
church,  and  her  sons,  the  civil  despots,  have  a  system  of  passports,  by  which  you 
know  the  movements  of  every  man  in  the  land ;  they  have  their  espionage,  and 
their  armed  police,  at  tlie  appoach  of  which,  liberty  sickens  and  dies.  These 
minions  rush  into  any  man's  house;  seize  his  papers,  and  letters,  and  drag  the  sus- 
p3cted  to  dungeons !  The  hihsas  corpus  law, — which  is  dear  to  every  freeman's  soul, 
i;ias  no  name,  nor  place  in  poj)ish  lands.  They  have  their  secret  inquisitions  to  cure 
koTQ^y,  and  stop  the  progress  of  light,  and  science.    True,  The  Grand  Inquisition  is 


ROMA!f  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY.  331 

no  more.  But  every  Romish  bishop  is  the  inquisitor  in  his  own  diocese,  in  our  lancU 
and  in  Europe! 

In  a  word,  no  man  in  your  communion  is  allowed  to  read,  or  even  to  think,  for 
himself  on  religion.  "  I  think  it  is  so,"  said  a  young  medical  student,  a  Romao 
catholic,  at  the  confessional, — "You  think,"  exclaimed  the  confessor,  in  a  voice 
choked  with  fury,  "what  right  have  you  to  think?  Let  me  never  catch  you  think- 
ing again  !"  He  is  now  a  7nan,  and  a  Protestant ;  and  was  lately,  if  he  is  not  still,  ia 
this  city. 

In  short,  no  slave  in  all  the  Indies, — no  galley  slave  chained  to  his  oar,  no  wretched 
victim  chained  in  the  inijuisitor's  cell,  is  more  chained  down,  in  body,  than  is  the 
genuine  papist  chained  down  in  soul,  conscience,  and  thought,  by  an  outrageous  and 
villainous  priest,  to  the  pope's  galley  oar!  We  pity  and  deplore  his  case  from  our 
souls.  And  no  tyrant's  or  usurper's  fall,  do  we  pray  for,  and  toil,  more,  to  accomplish, 
than  the  prostration,  and  anniliilation  of  pn"e5/cra/V .'  Oh!  Lord  J>.sus,  how- 
long!     Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly! 

Such,  Fathers,  as  you  know,  is  the  uncompromising  spirit  of  popery  ;  iinmingled, 
and  strong  in  its  elements  of  malignity ;  without  any  one  counteracting,  or  neutrali- 
zing principle  of  clemency  to  the  species  !  And  it  breathes  this  ferocious  spirit  into 
the  most  devoted  of  its  victims.  And  as  the  lower  order  in  every  community,  are  the 
most  abjectly  priest-ridden,  this  spirit  shows  itself  in  them,  just  in  proportion  as 
the  light  and  influence  of  Protestantism,  science,  and  piety,  have  shed  none  of  their 
transforming  elficacy  upon  them. 

Hence,  the  melancholy  and  deplorable  condition  of  the  middling,  and  especially, 
the  lower  order,  in  three,  out  of  the  four  provinces  in  Ireland,  in  Italy,  Spain,  and 
the  Roman  Catholic  cantons  of  the  Swiss!  The  native  genius  of  these  people  is 
equal  lo  that  of  any  people  under  heaven.  There  is  not  a  nobler,  kinder,  more 
generous,  or  more  gifted  soul  than  that  of  an  Irishman,  or  the  descendant  of  the  GauU 
of  the  Swiss,  or  the  ancient  and  immortal  Roman!  But,  alas!  behold  the  accursed, 
the  deadly  influence  of  popery  on  them  !  It  chains  them  hand  and  foot,  and  throws 
them  back  into  the  darkest  days  of  the  darkest  ages! 

It  is  an  axiom  of  truth,  established  by  the  luminous  evidence  of  history,  and  experience, 
that  no  class  of  our  si)ecies,  bears  a  nearer  likeness  to  the  Author  of  all  false  religions, 
than  the  fritsts  of  false  religions.  And,  as  popery,  if  we  receive  the  testimony  of  St. 
Paul,  is  "in  its  coming,"  in  a  pre-eminent  manner,  "after  the  working  of  Satan,  and 
with  all  deceivableness  of  unrighteousness,''  of  course,  its  jnieslhood,  and  its  priestcraft 
bear,  in  all  points,  a  superior  resemblance  to  its  su])crnatural  fabricator  !  Unrelent- 
ing malignity  has  ever  been  their  prominent,  and,  I  fear,  their  boasted,  and  cherish- 
ed attribute  !  Hence  the  Inquisitionl  Hence  persecution,  terrific,  refined  in  cruelty, 
lavish  in  its  horrid  devices,  and  imj)lements,  persevering,  and  diabolical,  on  the 
part  of  those  who,  in  their  illiberal,  and  exclusive  views,  call  themselves  Catholics! 
And  all  this  has  been  to  an  extent,  unknown,  in  number,  as  well  as  degree  of  viru- 
lence, even  in  pagan  persecutions!  Did  the  pagans  ever  conceive  an  imiuisition? 
Did  the  pagans  create  the  monster,  called  an  iiiqnisitor  ?  Did  the  pagans  ever 
conceive  the  idea  of  the  hell  and  tortures  of  a  S])anish  inijuisition  ?  No,  never! 
They  are  guiltless  of  all  these ! 

It  was  in  the  prophetic  vision  of  this  bloody  attribute  of  ])oj)ery,  that  Joha  "  won- 
dered with  great  admiration  !"  He  saw  mystic  Babylon  "drunk  with  the  blood  of  the 
saints,  and  with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus."     Had  it   been  Rome  pagan  that 


332  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

was  presented  to  view,  John  woulJ  not  have  wondered,  with  any  great  admiration! 
It  was  nothing  more  than  what  was  expected  from  the  haired  of  such  pagan  empe- 
rors', and  pagan  soldiers.  But  there  were  two  reasons  why  the  apostle  was  over- 
whelmed with  amazement.  Here,  before  his  eye,  was  a  society,  in  name  ehristian, 
*^ church  of  Christ:'' — by  its  own  avowal,  "the  only  church  of  Christ," ''drunk 
with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus  !"  And  then,  a 
gect,  christian  by  its  own  avowal,  yet  more  cruel,  more  unrelenting,  more  perse- 
vering in  persecution,  than  the  most  relentless  of  the  pagan  powers !  "  A  church,  call- 
ing itself  the  church  of  Christ,"  murdering  its  te7is  of  thousands  for  their  religion,  for 
every  hundred,  murdered  in  the  pagan  persecution  ! 

This  leads  me  to  the  Inquisition,  and  Persecution  by  the  Romish  church. 

I  am,  my  Lords  Bishops,  yours  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXXVI. 


TO    THE    LORD    ARCHBISHOP,  AND  THE  LORDS  BISHOPS    OF  THE  ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Cruelty  an  Essential  Attribute  of  Popery. 

"  Go  to  your  bloody  rites  again — bring  back 

The  hall  of  horrors,  and  tlie  assessor's  pen 

Recording  answers  shrieked  upon  the  rack; 

Smile  o'er  the  gaspings  of  spine-broken  men; 

Preach — perpetrate  damnation  in  your  den  ; 

Then  let  your  altars,  ye  blasphemers!  peal 

With  thanks  to  heaven,  that  let  you  loose  again 

To  practice  deeds  with  torturing  fire  and  steel 

No  eye  may  seaich, — no  tongue  may  challenge,  or  reveal." 

Thomas  Campbell,  On  the  Inquisition. 

Reverend  Fathers  : — I  am  indebted  for  your  patient  attention  to  these  investi- 
gations. But  I  am  not  indebted  to  you.  Had  I  been  in  the  land  of  Romish  catho- 
licity, such  as  your  Spain,  or  Italy,  I  should  likely,  have  had  your  company  in  the 
deepest  dungeon  of  the  inquisition  ;  and  there  have  been  pursuing  my  discussions  on 
'*  the  Beast,"  by  the  glare  of  the  familiar's  lurid  torch  :  and  by  the  judicious  help  of 
the  torturer  by  fire  and  water,  and  the  rack!  Blessings  on  our  cherished  country! 
Blessings  on  our  beloved  republic!  Tyranny,  ghostly,  or  civil,  cannot  live,  nor 
move,  nor  breathe  here !  May  it  be  so  for  ever  I  And  let  the  frost  of  death  paralyze 
the  tongue  of  the  guilty  traitor,  who  refuses  to  say, — Amen  I 

The  sixth  attribute  of  popery,  is  cruelty.  This  divides  itself  into  two  counts. 
It  shows  this  infernal  attribute  by  the  Inquisition  ;  and  by  Persecution. 

Part  First, — The  Inquisition. — The  Papacy,  you  know.  Fathers,  is  a  system 
which  has  ever  had,  for  its  object,  unbounded  power,  amid  the  potentates  of  the 
earth.  This  has  been  its  one  great  aim.  The  christian  religion  had  the  misfortune 
to  be  laid  hold  upon  by  it,  merely  as  a  pretext  to  gain  power.  Every  man, — every 
tyrant  has  used  one  means,  or  another,  to  gain  wealth  and  power.  One  man  trades 
in  gold  and  diamonds;  another  in  baubles,  and  jugglery.  The  all  absorbing  aim  of 
unprincipled  men  is  one ; — namely,  wealth  and  influence.      One  tyrant  employs 


ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 


333 


arms ;  and  boasts  with  Alexander,  and  the  Romans,  that  he  gives  nations  liberty  and 
peace,  after  he  has  plundered,/  and  desolated  the  land.  Mohammed  set  up  a  new 
religion,  simply  to  gain  power.  If  he  could  have  bent  to  his  purpose,  the  christian 
system,  as  successfully  as  the  papacy,  the  Arabian  impostor  would  have  spared  the 
infliction  of  the  alkoran  on  the  world.  And  he  would  have  marched  through  seas  of 
blood  with  the  Bible,  in  the  one  hand,  instead  of  the  alkoran;  and  his  scymetar,  in 
(he  other.  But  the  genius  of  his  voluptuous  Arabs,  prevented  this.  The  late  empe- 
ror of  France  was  a  Jew  with  the  Jews,  a  Protestant  with  the  Protestants  ;  a  Roman 
catholic  when  he  compelled  the  infallible  father,  Pius  VII,  to  crown  him  ;  and  a 
Mohammedan  in  Egypt!  The  truth  is  this,  these  men  were  atheists.  And  not  one 
soul  of  them  cared  f(^r  the  ivare  in  which  he  trafficed,  if  he  only  gained  his  ambitious 
object.  Alexander,  and  the  Romans,  cared  no  more  for  "the  liberty,  or  peace"  of 
nations;  or  Napoleon  for  "islamism;"  or  the  juggler  for  his  baubles  and  tricks,  or 
Mohammed  for  his  alkoran,  than  the  papacy,  for  the  christian  religion!  Each 
tyrant  has  a  design  upon  the  species;  each  tyrant  climbs  lo  a  crown  by  his  own 
ladder:  and  his  object  gained,  he  is  the  first  to  kick  it  aside,  as  a  thing  never  cared  for 
of  itself. 

The  papacy  gained  its  ascendency  by  chaining  down  the  human  intellect  and  con- 
science. To  accomplish  this,  our  ghostly  tyrants  seized  upon  the  form  of  the  christ- 
ian religion,  the  purest,  and  most  holy,  and  only  religion,  vouchsafed  to  us  from 
heaven  ;  and  that  which  has  the  mightiest  influence  on  the  conscience,  from  its  exhi- 
bitions of  eternity,  its  reward,  and  its  punishments.  The  pope  usurps  the  throne  of 
the  Deiiy ;  and  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God,  he  deals  out-  glory,  and  damnation,  as  he 
is  in  the  humor.  He  erects  a  purgatory  to  make  an  easy  way  to  heaven  for  evil  men 
and  knaves,  and  to  create  a  revenue  of  money,  wrung  from  the  ignorant,  guilty,  and 
trembling  wretch  !  He  deals  out  its  "  fires,"  "  waters,"  its  "  steam-baths"  to  each 
culprit,  in  a  charitable  manner,  and  a  charitable  measure,  just  as  he  is  able  lo  pay. 
He  takes  heaven  into  his  own  hand;  turns  the  Holy  One  away;  places  his  Virgin 
Mary  on  the  throne,  and  opens  heaven,  and  sells  glory,  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  the 
richest  knaves ! 

All  this  enormity,  which  throws  Satan's  inventions  in  the  dark  pagan  world,  en- 
tirely into  the  shade,  has  poured  in  enormous  revenues.  All  Europe,  all  ranks  from 
the  king  to  the  beggar,  were  his  tributaries.  And  the  priests,  monks,  and  friars,  and 
nuns  were  his  tools  and  paunders;  his  miijitia;  and  his  tax  gatherers!  And  by  his 
ghostly  ware,  and  traffic  in  religion,  he  has  gained  more  riches,  and  more  power, 
than  Mohammed  did  by  his  alkoran  ;  or  Alexander  by  his  Greeks  ;  or  Caesar  by  his 
Ronmns! 

Now,  toconsolidate  this  system,  the  pope  knew  that  it  was  essential  to  check  every 
thing  like  liberty  of  thought,  and  the  rights  of  conscience.  To  get,  and  to  keep  pos- 
session of  his  revenues,  he  knew  that  he  must  keej)  the  souls  of  all  Euroi)e,  in  chains. 

This  he  has  labored  to  ettectby  two  prominent  and  truly  satannic  means.  By  the 
Index  Et pur gatoriuSy  he  keeps  the  Bible,  and  every  valuable  book  from  the  subjects 
of  his  kingdom  of  darkness,  and  despotism.  In  other  words,  he  employs  ignorance, 
palpable  as  the  darkness  of  Egypt,  to  chain  man  down.  In  this  darkness  lie  keeps 
men  "from  rising  from  their  seats;"  and  the  gloom  of  their  cells.  The  other  wea- 
pon r)f  hell  is  the  iNquisirioN  !  "It  is  essential  to  salvation," — that  means,  in  other 
words, — "  It  is  essential  to  his  fleecing  men  of  their  liberty  and  property,  that  all 
men  be  under  the  pope's  power." — And  the  Inquisition  may  be  defined, — That  tri- 


334 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 


bunal,  the  joint  invention  of  the  devil,  and  the  pope,  whereby  men  are  punished,  in 
an  exemplary,  and,  to  the  pope,  a  very  lucrative  manner;  for  the  deadly  sin  of  obey- 
ing their  Maker,  by  exercising  the  faculties  of  their  own  souls;  and  thinking  differ- 
ently from  the  Roman  catholic  religion  ! 

The  Inquisition  has  three  degrees  in  its  rise,  and  progress.  In  the  council  of 
Verona,  in  3184,  Pope  Lucius  constituted  each  bishop  Me  Inquisitor,  or  "The  heresy 
hunter,"  in  his  own  diocess. 

But  when  those,  whom  the  despot  was  pleased  to  call  heretics,  and  who,  in  fact, 
were  true  and  enlightened  christians,  rejecting  with  indignation  the  idolatrous  system 
of  popery,  had  increased  in  an  incredible  degree,  the  popes,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
13th  century,  in  order  to  check  them,  sent  deles;ates  into  these  parts  where  his  power 
was  so  unceremoniously  trampled  down.  These  sanguinary  miscreants,  such  as 
Castelnau,  and  Dominic,  preached  down  heresy.  And  their  wretched  sophisms  utterly 
failing  to  make  men  of  sense  apostatise  from  Christianity,  to  popery, — ^they  look  on 
them,  without  the  leave  of  bishop,  or  magistrate,  to  inflict  capital  punishments  upon 
their  victims  ! 

But  the  Inquisition  was  perfected  in  its  terrific  power,  when  the  emperor  Frederic 
ii,  and  Louis  ix,  sirnamed  Saint  Louis,  king  of  France,  lent  their  authority  to  esta- 
blish this  tribunal ;  and  when  the  magistracy  was  converted  into  a  tool  of  the  priests 
to  enact  legalized  murders,  on  men,  simply  for  their  opinions  in  religion.  Then 
Europe  exhibited  the  novel  and  outrageous  spectacle, — to  use  the  words  of  Dr.  Jortin, 
"  of  the  priest  being  the  judge,  and  kings  the  hangmen  !" 

Such  has,  in  fact,  been  the  true  relation  of  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  and  in- 
deed, of  the  magistracy,  to  the  pope  of  Rome,  and  his  sanguinary  army  of  priests. 
The  pope  having  usurped  unlimited  power  over  every  crowned  head  ;  and  these 
ignorant  and  effeminate  animals,  called  kings,  and  emperors,  having  in  their  treach- 
ery to  God,  and  their  subjects,  "yielded  up  their  power  to  the  Beast,"  and  tamely 
put  their  necks  under  his  heel,  they  became  the  pope's  spies  and  hangmen!  Nay! 
the  whole  magistracy  for  several  generations,  became  "the  hangmen,"  of  the  Inqui- 
sition; and  the  royal  armies,  the  hired  executioners  of  whole  provinces,  and  cities, 
in  vast,  and  wide-spread  massacres!  All  this  was  done  at  the  nod  of  an  upstart, 
and  wretched  priest,  who  succeeded  in  deceiving  the  world  into  a  persuasion  that  he 
was  a  christian;  and  God's  vicar  general,  in  St.  Peter's  chair!  Hence,  we  know  how 
to  reply  to  the  papal  sophistry,  on  the  lips  of  priests,  within  Protestant  lands, — "  Our 
church  inflicts  no  civil  pains,  the  civil  magistrate,  alone,  puts  these  criminals  to 
death :"  and  "  their  blood  is  no  more  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  martyrs,  than  the 
blood  of  thieves,  man-killers,  and  other  malefactors:  for  the  shedding  of  which,  by 
order  of  justice,  no  commonwealth  shall  answer."     Rhemish  Annot.  Revel,  xvii.  6. 

At  the  bidding  of  the  pope,  four  edicts  were  issued  by  the  emperor  Frederick  II. 
In  the  first  he  asserts,  the  divine  right  of  kings  "  to  wield  the  material  sword,  given  to 
them  separately  from  the  priesthood,  against  the  enemies  of  the  faith,  for  the  extirpa- 
ting of  heretical  pravity."  "We  shall  not  suffer,"  says  he, — "the  wretches  to 
live,  who  infect  the  world  with  their  doctrines,"  He  then  fixes  the  horrible  punish- 
ment for  heretics  ;  namely, — death  in  the  most  appalling  forms,  by  rack,  and  fire, 
and  sword  :  and  their  goods  to  be  confiscated,  their  children  to  be  disinherited,  and 
their  memory,  and  their  children,  to  be  held  infamous  forever !"  No  heretic,  that  is  a 
dissenter  from  popery,  could  make  a  will;  nor  receive  any  property,  by  succession, 
or  inheritance.     Pope  Innocent  VIIL,  in  his  edict  of  1487,  enacted  that  *'caiholici 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  335 

might  seize  upon,  and  possess  the  goods  of  heretics :  that  if  bound  to  them  by  contract-, 
it  must  not  be  fulfilled  ;  if  indebted  to  them,  they  must  not  pay  debts."  William  the 
Conqueror,  in  his  devotion  to  Rome,  enacted  that  "no  man  should  buy,  or  sell,  who 
refused  allegiance  to  the  apostolic  see."  And  pope  Alexander  III.  issued  his  bull 
that, — "No  man  should  traffic  with  the  Waldenses."  And  the  council  of  Constance 
uttered  their  anathema  "on  all  who  should  dare  to  enter  into  contracts,  or  engage  in 
commerce  with  heretics."  And  tht  Inquisitors  were  the  ministers  of  vengeance,  charg- 
ed with  the  execution  of  these  sanguinary  laws. 

So>  completely  did  these  enemies  of  God,  and  his  church,  fulfil,  unconsciously,  even 
to  the  letter,  the  prediction  respecting  antichrist,  in  Rev.  xiii.  15,  16.  "The  image  of 
the  Jjieast  should  both  speak,  and  cause  that  as  many  as  would  not  worship  the  image 
of  the  Beasi,  should  be  killed.  And  that  no  man  might  buy,  or  sell,  save  he  that  had 
the  mark,  or  the  name  of  the  Beast !" 

Such  were  the  origin  and  the  laws  of  this  infernal  tribunal,  which  had,  under 
Satan,  pope  Innocent  III.  for  its  founder,  and  one  of  the  saints  of  the  calendar, 
St.  Dominic,  for  its  earliest  inquisitor.  It  was  fully  in  operation  in  Italy,  in  1251. 
It  was  gradually  extended  into  other  countries,  and  the  executioners  and  tormentors  in 
"  The  Holy  Otfice,"  were  always  Dominican  friars^  a  class  of  men  destitute  of  the 
bowels  of  humanity  ! 

In  some  countries,  they  never  were  able  to  establish  this  court,  by  all  their  efforts  ; 
for  instance,  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland.  In  France,  it  was  forced  on  the 
people:  but  soon  were  the  miscreants  and  their  tribunal  banished  with  indignation. 
In  Germany,  the  exasperated  people  drove  these  minions  of  popery  from  their  towns; 
and,  mr)re  rigorous  than  the  French  in  their  law  of  retaliation,  the  first  inquisitor, 
Conrad  of  Marpurg,  was  cut  to  i)ieces  by  the  ungovernable  populace.  In  Spain,  and 
Portugal,  "this  scourge,  and  disgrace  to  humanity  has,  for  centuries,  glared  like  a 
monster,  with  its  frightful  aspect."  At  Rome  it  was  generally  most  tolerant  !  For 
Rome  acts  on  Jwf/ictoM5  principles.  Gold  and  power  are  its  only  deity.  And  she 
knows  that  a  rigid  Inquisition  would  dry  up  the  fountains  of  wealth  poured  in  by 
strangers  and  travellers.  In  Europe,  while  each  bishop's  Inquisition  is  in  full  ope- 
ration, the  Grand  Inquisition  is  suspended  in  its  operations.  But  it  has  never  been 
condemned,  not  even  disapproved  of;  and  its  crimes  of  murder  and  butchery  have 
never  been  atoned  for,  never  even  deplored,  by  the  papal  church,  in  Europe,  or  the 
United  States  !  Hence,  it  is  manifest  that  on  each  priest's  head,  who  walks  our 
streets,  rest  the  atrocious  guilt,  and  blood  of  the  Inquisition,  until  he  repents,  and 
makes  reparation  to  outraged  human  nature.  But  Holy  Mother,  and  her  priests, 
never  can  repent  of  her  deeds,  as  a  church  ;  for  in  that  ca?e,  she  would  admit  thatsh« 
has  been  in  error;  and  they  would  lose  the  caste  of  infallibility  ! 

The  Inquisitorial  law  look  its  rise  out  of  the  ignorance  and  brutality  of  the  Domini- 
can monks.  "They  were  entirely  ignorant,"  as  Mosheim  justly  remarks,  "of  all 
judicial  proceedings,  and  sound  law.  They  knew  only  the  tribunal  of  penance ; 
where  men  testify  against,  and  for  themselves.  On  this  they  modelled  the  laws  of 
the  Inquisition."  Hence  these  laws  are  "  in  many  respects,  contrary  to  the  common 
feelings  of  humanity  ;  and  the  plainest  dictates  of  e(]uiiy  and  justice." 

"The  Inquisitor,"  exhibits  the  specimen  of  a  human  being,  made  in  God's  image, 
destitute  of  the  least  feelings  of  humanity:  and  a  consummate  knave.  He  smiles  on 
the  most  horrible  torments  of  a  fellov/  being:  the  groans  of  bleeding,  lacerated,  and 
dying  mortals,  are  the  music  of  his  dark  cave;  in  which,  far  below  the  surface  of  the 


336  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

earth,  in  close  dangeons,  where  the  ear  of  man  cannot  hear  him,  he  practices  his 
horrid  vocation ;  after  the  manner  of  his  Lord  and  Master,  in  the  dark  regions 
below  ! 

In  Spain,  where  this  tribunal  triumphed  in  the  reign  of  terror,  over  religion,  morals, 
and  bleeding  humanity,  there  were  eighteen  different  Inquisitorial  courts;  with 
their  apostoUcal  Inquisitors.  And  besides  the  legions  of  officers  in  these  hells,  there 
were  20,000  familiars^  dispersed  over  the  land.  These,  with  the  cunning  and  malig- 
nity of  the  devil,  mingled  as  spies,  and  informers,  in  all  companies;  invaded  the 
sanctity  of  families,  and  dragged  all  suspected  persons  to  the  cells  of  the  Inquisition. 
They  would  come  upon  families,  in  noon  day,  and  at  the  midnight  hour.  They  car- 
ried off  the  wife,  and  mother  from  the  bosom  of  husband,  and  children.  They  singled 
out  the  blooming  maid ;  and  the  young  man,  the  stay  of  his  widowed  mother;  and 
the  bride  from  the  very  circle  of  her  gay  friends  !  The  greatest  virtues,  and  respect- 
ability in  s-ociety,  were  no  shield  against  these  infernal  invaders.  Mere  suspicion,  or 
personal  quarrel^  or  the  glance  of  a  voluptuous  Inquisitor's  eye  on  youth  and  inno- 
cence, were  sure  to  send  the  horrid  prison  carriage  at  the  dead  hour  of  night,  to  the 
person's  house,  to  carry  the  victim  to  this  slaughter  house  of  virtue,  and  tomb  of  the 
living.  Such  was  the  terror  inspired  by  these  incarnate  devils,  that  the  parent,  and 
the  brother  would  hurry,  with  trembling  steps  to  the  door.  And  whenever  the  appal- 
ling words  were  heard, — "Open  to  the  holy  Inquisition ;'' — "  Deliver  up  your  wife, — 
deliver  up  your  daughter, — deliver  up  your  son,  to  the  holy  Inquisition ;" — that  in- 
stant would  the  terror-stricken  relative,  without  daring  to  ask  one  question,  or  breathe 
one  murmur,  or  even  implore  pity,  lead  the  trembling  victims  out,  and  deliver  them 
to  these  fiends  I  The  bereaved  father,  or  husband  would,  next  day,  go  into  mourning; 
and  speak  of  the  dear  lost  one, — as  no  more  !  Gloom  and  melancholy  were  spread 
through  the  family  ;  aud  the  remains  of  hope  were  swallowed  up  in  the  bitterest 
despair.  Even  their  tears,  and  their  sorrows  had  they  to  conceal,  lest  they  should 
be  the  next  victims  of  ghostly  suspicion. 

And  with  such  prcfound  secrecy  did  these  familiars  conduct  their  movements, 
that  the  members  of  the  same  family,  would,  in  numerous  instances,  know  nothing 
of  one  another's  apprehension.  Dr.  Geddes  states  that  a  father,  and  three  sons,  ar^d 
three  daughters,  living  all  in  the  same  house,  were  carried  prisoners  to  the  Inquisi- 
tion^ without  knowing  of  one  another's  being  there;  until  set;e?i  years  afterwards, 
when  those  of  them  who  had  survived  the  horrid  tortures,  met  at  an  Auto  da  Fe! 
There,  after  seven  years  of  weeping  and  despair,  their  eyes  fell  on  each  other,  about 
to  be  consumed  in  the  fire  of  the  papists'  grand  human  sacrifice  !  See  Dr.  M.  Geddes' 
Works  on  'popery,  vol.  i.  ]).  392. 

As  for  the  victims  seized  by  the  familiars,  they  were  hurried  into  the  dungeon  cells, 
and  loaded  with  chains.  If  females,  they  were  placed  in  the  harems  of  the  sacerdotal 
monsters,  who  revel  on  the  honor,  the  peace,  and  happiness  of  families;  and  subject 
them  to  disgraces  worse  than  death,  to  the  pure  and  virtuous! 

The  prisoners  were  never  confronted  with  the  accusers,  or  informers.  No  witnesses 
were  produced,  and  the  basest  of  mankind  are  admitted  as  spies,  and  accusers.  Even 
the  crime  alleged  against  them  was  not  made  known  to  them.  They  must  make  it  out 
the  best  way  they  can,  and  confess  their  own  crime.  If  ihey  did  not,  they  were  put 
to  the  rack,  and  a  confession  extorted  from  them.  "This  procedure,"  says  the  his- 
torian Voltaire,  "unheard  of,  till  the  Inquisition,  makes  all  Spain  tremble;  suspicion 
reigns  in  all  bosoms;  friendship,  and  quietness  are  at  an  end  :  brother  dreads  brother; 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC     CONTROVKRKT.  337 

and  father,  his  owa  soa.  Hence  (.he  taciturnity  of  a  nation,  endued  with  all  the 
vivacitv  natural  to  a  glowing  and  fruitful  clime."  Univ.  Hist.  vol.  ii.  ch.  118.  Jones' 
Church  Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  99. 

Let  me  conduct  my  reader  into  the  interior  of  the  Inciuisition.  I  shall  follow  the 
guidance  of  the  most  api)roved  authors,  in  their  investigations  of  the  "Infernal 
Tribunal."  The  exterior  of  the  building  is  sufficient  tf»  strike  terror  into  the  bosom 
of  even  the  bravest  man,  who  has  always  trodden  the  soil  of  freedom.  The  entran- 
ces are  through  long,  dark,  and  winding  passages;  through  ponderous  doors  :  ojjened 
by  massy  keys,  and  clanking  chains.  The  walls  are  black  and  fikhy ;  the  flash  of 
gleaming  torches  reveals  the  sullen  and  taciturn  officers,  and  familiars,  whose  coun- 
tenances retaining  Httle  of  "the  human  face  divine,"  frown  an  eternal  scowl  of  ven- 
geance on  all  who  have  the  misery  of  coming  near  them;  while  their  eyes  flash  with 
the  glare  of  the  hidden  fire,  perpetually  burning  wiihin  their  guilty,  and  horror- 
stricken  souls!  The  stoutest  hearted  cannot  view  them  without  honor!  The  tor- 
turing dungeons  are  so  deep ;  and  the  massy  doors  so  close,  that  the  groans,  and  the 
horrid  shrieks  of  the  tortured  victims,  cannot  reach  the  air:  or  if  perchance  there 
ever  came, — 

"  So  loud  a  shriek 

As  reached  the  upper  air, 
The  hearers  blessed  themselves,  and  said, 
The  spirits  of  the  sinful  dead 

Bemoaned  their  tonnenls  there!" 

Sir  W.  Scott. 

But  if  my  reader  can  follow  me,  let  me  be  more  minute  in  detail.  I  shall  describe,  to 
the  public,  the  torments  which  were  of  every  day's  occurrence. 

1st.  The  torture  by  water.  The  victim  is  laid  on  a  table  ;  and  tied  down  so  lightly 
by  cords,  that  they  cut  through  the  flesh  into  the  bone,  of  his  arms,  thighs,  and  legs. 

The  nostrils  of  the  wretch  are  stuffed  with  a  thick  paste.  A  narrow  filter  is  insert- 
ed in  his  mouth,  through  which  quantities  of  water  are  yjoured.  At  every  breath  he 
is  forced  to  swallow  a  mouthful  of  water,  till  at  last  his  swollen  stomach,  and  hea- 
ving breast,  showed  the  extent  of  the  torture  he  endures.  He  struggles  fearfully  to 
escape  from  his  bondage,  but  his  struggles  are  of  no  avail,  except  to  increase  the 
pangs  he  suffers.  Nature,  at  length,  is  soon  exhausted,  and  then  these  diabolical 
operations  are  suspended  for  a  moment,  and  the  sufferer  is  asked  if  he  will  confesss  his 
crime.  He  cannot  speak,  but,  with  what  little  strength  he  has  remaining,  shakes  his 
head.  The  torture  is  again  put  in  force.  Flask  after  flask  of  water  is  ])oured  down 
the  sufferer's  throat,  to  force  him  to  confess  a  crime,  of  which  he  is  entirely  innocent. 
This  is  often  continued  until  the  victim  expires  under  his  murderer's  hands. 

There  is  another  form  of  torture  by  ivater.  The  victims  nostrils  being  closed  with 
paste,  a  thin  muslin  cloth  is  put  over  his  mouth  ;  and  water  poured  in  a  current  on 
it,  until  the  cloth  is  actually  carried  down  into  his  stomach!  This  is  dragged  up  by 
his  inhuman  tormentors,  with  inexpressible  pain,  besides  his  continued  dancer  of  suf- 
focation. The  victim  often  expires  sooner,  by  this  process,  than  by  the  other,  just 
mentioned. 

2d.  Torture  by  Fire.  The  victim  is  placed  on  the  floor,  with  his  feet  toward  a 
blazing  fire,  his  soles  are  fixed  near  the  red  coals  ;  the  fire  is  placed  along  the  whole 
length'of  his  hmbs.  He  is  chained  down  by  the  neck  and  hands,  to  the  floor.  One 
of  the  familiars  is  continually  employed  in  basting  the  poor  christian's  feet  and  legs 

30 


338  ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST. 

•with  lard  and  oil ;  while  another  tormentor  is  stirring  up  the  fire  into  the  intensest 
blaze .'  The  torment  is  beyond  conception !  His  feet  and  limbs  are  literally  roasted! 

Sometimes  the  fire  has  been  applied  in  "  the  dry  heat.'"  The  victim  is  put  into  a 
large  vessel  of  iron  or  copper ;  and  the  fire  put  beneath  it ;  and  he  is  left  beneath  the 
lid,  to  the  bm-ning  and  suffocating  air, — until  he  expire  ;  and  his  body  is  reduced  to 
ashes. 

3d.  Torture  by  the  St.  Mary.  When  the  Inquisition  was  thrown  open  by  the 
troopsof  Napoleon,  and  king  Joseph,  in  Spain,  an  image  of  the  Virgin  was  found 
standing  in  a  damp  corner  of  a  cell.  On  inspection,  it  vvas  discovered  by  the  French 
officer,  to  be  a  torturing  engine  ;  as  she  had  a  metal  breastplate,  beneath  her  robes, 
stuck  full  of  needles,  spikes,  and  lancets  !  The  familiar  was  ordered  "•  to  maimuvrt 
it.*'  He  did  so  ;  it  raised  its  arms  as  if  to  embrace  ;  a  knapsack  was  thrown  into  her 
arms;  she  gradually  closed  and  crushed  the  knapsack,  and  pierced  it  in  a  hundred 
placrs,  with  deep  cuts,  each  of  which  would  have  been  a  death's  wound  to  the  living 
victim ! 

4th.  Torture  of  the  Rack.  By  one  form  of  this  torment  the  victim  is  fixed  to  a  post, 
and  his  arms  are  drawn  back  by  great  force  until  the  shoulder  joints  are,  each,  dis- 
located. By  another  form,  the  rope  is  fixed,  first  above  his  elbows,  then  above  his 
wrists,  and  he  is  hoisted  suddenly  to  the  lofty  ceiling;  then  dropped  with  a  sudden 
jerk  near  to  the  floor,  until  all  the  upper  joints  of  his  body,  are  dislocated  !  If  the  poor 
christian  refuses  to  confess,  what  he  knows  not,  or  refuses  to  become  an  apostate,  then 
the  ropes  are  fixed  to  his  lower  limbs,  and  he  is  hoisted  up  with  his  head  downward; 
and  let  fall  repeatedW,  with  excessive  violence,  until  his  ankle  joints,  and  knee,  and 
loin  joints  are  all  dislocated.  And  oh  horrible!  the  whole  weight  of  his  body 
hangs,  as  it  were,  dangling  upon  the  loose  flesh,  and  sinews!  When  the  wretched 
man  faints,  he  is  hurried  into  his  cell,  and  thrown  on  the  cold  damp  floor  I  And  if  he 
recovers  under  the  surgeon's  care,  the  same  horrid  tortures  are  enacted  on  him,  from 
week  to  week,  until  he  confess, — or  expire  in  their  hands!  These  are  only  a  portion 
of  the. tortures  which  have  reached  the  pubHc  ear.  There  have  been  such  "  as  eye 
hath  not  seen,  and  ear  never  heard."  There  has  been  no  recorder  of  them.  Besides 
who  can  register  the  tears,  and  groans,  and  agony  of  broken  hearted  human  nature ! 
But,  Lord  God  !  Thou  art  just;  Thou  art  on  thy  judgment  seat!  And  there  is  a  doom 
to  overwhelm  the  oppressor,  and  the  inhuman  butcher  of  thy  innocent,  and  bleeding 
martyrs,  O  Lord  Jesus  ! 

5th.  The  Auto  da  Fe.  This  closes  periodically,  the  tragedy  of  "the  Infernal 
Tribunal."  This  sacrifice  of  Bloloch,  has  always  taken  place  on  a  Sabbath  day. 
The  prisoners  are  brought  into  a  great  Hall,  where  they  are  dressed  for  the  proces- 
sion. The  Dominicans^  the  master  spirits  of  this  pandemonium,  march  first,  bearing 
the  flag  with  the  appropriate  motto, — (for  they  characteristically  unite  mockery  of 
human  nature,  to  their  savage  barbarity.)  ''Justice  and  mercy  P^  The  penitents  who 
escape,  are  dressed  in  black  coats,  without  sleeves;  and  they  are  marched  barefooted. 
Next  came  those  who  have  narrovvly  escaped, — dressed  in  black  coats  decked  oflT 
with  red  figures  of  flames,  top  downwards.  Next  came  the  negative  and  relapsed, 
with  red  figures  of  flames  curling  upwards,  on  their  dresses.  These  are  to  be  strangled 
and  burned.  And,  lastly,  came  our  brethren,  the  dear  devout  Protestants  and  chris- 
tians, who  abjured  ''the  sectarian  heresy  of  Popery,''  and  died  for  the  gospel  of  Jesus. 
These  had  not  only  red  figures  of  flames,  but  figures  of  open-mouthed  dogs,  serpents, 
and  devils,  covering  their  vestments! 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 


339 


In  their  rnarch  to  execution,  our  poor  suflering  fellow  beings,  and  fellow  christians 
are  not  even  permitted  to  speak,  or  give  utterance  to  their  sorrows.  A  victim  who 
had  opposed  the  idolatry  of  the  mass,  and  the  worship  of  the  wafer,  and  idol  gods, 
exclaimed  in  an  ecstacy,  as  he  came  out  of  his  dungeon,  and  reached  the  open  air, 
and  saw  the  sun  sliining  in  all  his  glory, — a  sight  he  had  not  seen  in  many  years:^ 
'■'■How  is  it  possible  for  people  that  behold  that  glorious  body^  to  ivorship  any  being 
but  Him  who  created  it!''  "  Here,"  says  Dr.  Geddes,"  I  saw  him  stopjjcd  short  in  his 
pious  exclamations;  and  immediately  gagged,  so  that  he  could  not  speak  a  word 
morel"     See  Dr.  M.  Geddes'  Tracts  on  Popery,  vol.  i.  p.  406. 

Arrived  at  the  horrid  Golgotha,  and  field  of  Moloch,  a  wretched-  declamation, 
called  a  sermon,  is  uttered  by  some  hypocritical  Jesuit,  or  a  half  willed  but  savage 
Dominican,  in  praise  of  the  "  Holy  Inquisition,"  and  the  devout  servants  of  God,  "  tht 
Inquisitor''  and  all  ''these  skilful  tormentors"  of  our  fellow  beings.  This  being  done, 
sentence  is  passed  on  each  class;  and  the  two  classes  appointed  to  be  burned,  are  de- 
livered over  formally  to  the  civil  magistrate  ;  while  the  reckless  hypocrites, — the 
Inquisitor  and  his  minions,  "  beg,  and  implore  the  magistrates  not  to  take  their  lives  ; 
not  to  kill  them;  not  to  burn  them:  but  to  spare  them ! !"  This  mockery  of  God  and 
human  nature,  being  enacted,  the  penitents  are  dismissed  ; — the  relap>ed  who  die  in 
Romanism,  are  first  strangled,  and  then  burned.  This  is  all  their  privilege, — they 
are  first  strangled .'  But  the  faithful  christians  who  persevere  in  Christ's  cause,  are 
chained  on  a  high  stake,  many  feet  above  the  piles  of  faggots.  Here  two  Jesuits  again 
inflict  on  each  martyr  a  long  and  whining  exhortation,  to  repent, — and  die  in  the  Ro- 
man faith,  and  receive  the  tender  mercy  of  Holy  Mother: — namely  the  benefit  of 
being  strangled,  and  then  burned.  This  mockery  enacted  by  these  inhuman  priests, 
the  loud  scream  is  uttered — at  the  nod  of  the  Inquisitor, — "  Let  the  dog's  beards  be 
made!"  Instantly  blazing  torches  and  furze  on  long  poles,  are  dashed  on  the  faces  of 
the  agonizing  martyrs;  and  this  is  continued  until  their  faces  are  burned  to  a  cinder  ! 
Then  the  flames  are  applied  below,  and  the  roaring  flames  ascend,  and  slowly  con- 
sume the  sufferers  to  ashes !  And  to  crovvn  the  whole, — at  the  bidding  of  the  Inquisitor, 
and  the  example  of  all  the  priests,  this  horrid  tragedy  is  enacted  amid  the  peals  of 
laughter,  and  shouts  of  exultation,  and  merriment,  from  ten  thousand  beings  actually 
calling  themselves  men, — and  women — and  christians! !  And  yet,  no  people  in  Eu- 
rope, perhaps  show  more  kindly  feelings,  or  deeper  sympathy  with  the  sufferings  of 
common  criminals,  dying  for  any  crime  against  the  civil  laws  !  Such  is  the  savag-e 
and  ferocious  influence  of  popery  and  priestcraft,  in  these  countries.  It  actually  ren- 
ders man  not  only  insensible  to  the  feelings  of  hqmanity,  but  absolutely  inhuman 
toward  his  brother  man.  No  scene  in  the  worship  of  Moloch;  none,  in  the  horrid 
rites  of  Juggernaut;  none,  among  our  savage  Indians  around  a  captive  warrior's 
murderous  fire,  when  he  is  put  to  death  by  their  ingenious  tortures,  has  ever  equalled 
the  scenes  of  torture  in  the  the  interior  of  the  Inrpiisition,  and  the  closing  tragedies  of 
the  Auto  da  Fe  !  And  yet, — O  most  outrageous  mockery !  All  this  has  been  enacted 
from  age  to  age,  under  the  name  of  the  holy  and  benignant  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Even  that  religion  which  breathes  nothing  but  love  to  man:  which  prohibits  all  vio- 
lence, and  even  compulsion  in  religion:  which  declares  that  even  "the  man  who 
hates  his  brother  is  a  -murderer!"  By  the  voice  of  this  holy  and  peaceful  religion 
what  must  the  Roman  catholic  priests  be,  who  sing  psalms,  chaunt  the  mass,  and 
butcher  mankind  by  hundred-  of  thousands  in  cold  blood! 

The  number  of  the  victims  of  the  Inquisition  will  never  be  known,  until  the  day  of 


340  ROxMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

final  retributioQ.  Various  have  been  the  numbers  set  down.  "  Authors  of  undoubt- 
ed credit,"  says  Jones, — "  have  affirmed,  and  without  any  exaggeration,  that  mill- 
ions of  persons  have  been  ruined  by  his  horrible  court.  Moors  were  banished  from 
Spain,  a 'mi7//on  at  a  time!  From  six  to  eight  hundred  thousand  Jews  were  driven 
away  from  it,  at  once  ;  and  all  their  property  seized."     Jones'    Ch.  Hist.  ii.  p.  98. 

In  Spain,  alone,  the  numbers  who  suffered  in  the  extreme,  are  thus  set  down  by 
Lorente  in  his  late  history  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  ;  Vans  Edit.  1818.  Tom.  iv. 
p.  271. 

"It  is  the  Inquisition  which  has  ruled  in  Spain,"  says  he,  "from  the  year  1481,  to 
the  present  day,  of  vvhich  I  undertake  to  write  the  history."     Tom.  i.  p.  140. 
Recapitulation  of  all  the  victims  condemned  and  burnt      ....     33,912 

Burned  in  effigy, ] 5,695 

Placed  in  a  state  of  penance  with  rigorous  punishments,      ,     .     .     291,450 


Total 341,057 

This  number  fixed  on  by  this  unusually  accurate  historian,  is  far  below  the  truth. 
It  is  generally  admitted  that  under  the  first  Inquisitor  of  Spain  alone,  namely  Tor- 
queniada,  no  less  than  100,000  human  beings  suffered :  under  the  above  three 
classes,  that  is,  they  were  burned  ;  or  they  perisjhed  on  the  rack,  or  by  it ;  or  in  exile; 
and  perpetual  confinement! 

This,  Re-v.  Fathers,  is  enough  at  one  time,  in  all  conscience,  for  your,  or  any  man's 
digestion  ;  you  will,  therefore,  accord  me  the  boon  of  pausing  a  while. 

I  am,  my  Lords  Bishops,  yours  &c. 

W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXX VII. 


TO    THE     LORD    ARCHBISHOP,    AND    THE    LORDS    BISHOPS    OF    THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Cruelty  an  Essential  Attribute  of  Popery . 
"  Thus  Beelzebub 


Pleaded  his  devilish  counsel,  tirst  devised 
By  Satan,  and  in  part  ])rn|iosed  :  for  whence 
Butfroiri  the  author  of  all  ill,  could  spriiig 
So  deep  a  malice."  Miltox. 

Reverend  Fathers  : — The  tribunal  of  the  Inquisition,  bloody  as  it  was,  never- 
theless was  too  slow,  in  its  exterminating  process  for  the  sanguinary  zeal  of  the  papal 
priests.  Besides  the  arm  of  civil  power  was  found  to  be  necessaiy  in  some  countries, 
where  neither  Moloch,  nor  Satan,  nor  even  the  pope  himself  could  establish  ''The 
Infernal  Tribunal  P""  Hence  the  summary  process  of  crusades,  and  massacres.  This 
conducts  me  to, — 

Part  II. — Persecution.  1.  Of  the  Crusades  we  may  reckon  two  kinds.  The- 
one  maybe  termed  mora/:  and  besides  violence  and  outrage,  it  included  the  resort 
to  every  species  of  treachery,  deception,  and  cunning,  which  power  and  Jesuitisrr* 
could  employ,  to  bring  men  over  to  Romanism,  from  the  christian  religion.     As  spe-* 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERST.  341 

cimens  of  this,  I  reckon  that  violence,  and  tliose  diabolical  artifices  employed  to 
undermine  the  ancient  apostolical  churches  of  Britain,  Spain,  and  Ireland  ;  and 
spread  the  horrid  impostures  of  popery  over  them, — which  to  this  day,  enchain  the 
greater  part  of  the  latter  two  :  and  that  ferocious  system  of  moral  and  civil  persecu- 
tion which  wasted  Hungary,  and  crushed  three  millions  of  Protestants,  for  three 
hundred  years ;  and  closed,  in  a  measure,  only  with  the  life,  and  reign  of  Maria 
Theresa. 

The  other  species  of  Crusade  was  wholly  of  a  sanguinary  nature.  The  papal 
bearers  o(  the  cruss,  their  insignia,  went  forth  to  butcher,  in  cold  blood,  man,  woman, 
infant, — who  were  not  Romans;  and  cover  whole  kingdoms  with  blood,  and  fire,  and 
havoc!  Of  this  kind,  were  the  crusades  against  the  Moors  and  Jews  in  Spain;  the 
Waldenses  and  Albigenses;  and  the  infidels  in  the  Holy  Land.  These  specimens 
of  wild  and  infernal  mania,  were  exhibited  solely  by  the  ambhion  and  blood-thirsty 
cruelty  of  the  popes.  The  last,  in  the  Holy  Land,  commenced  in  the  year  1096,  and 
it  raged,  with  fury,  for  two  centuries  ;  causing,  according  to  Mons.  Voltaire,  the  death 
of  two  millions  of  men,  in  the  flower  of  their  youth:  and  ill  prepared,  we  fear,  to 
meet  their  Judge.  For  the  blood,  and  for  the  souls  of  these  millions  of  human  be- 
ings, has  the  Romish  church,  one  day,  to  give  an  account  to  Almighty  God. 

2.  That  the  Roman  catholic  church  has  been  avowedly  a  ferocious,  persecuting 
sect,  is  frankly  admitted  by  her  standard  writers.  And  that  persecutions  have  been 
carried  on,  over  entire  nations,  by  wholesale,  is  triumphantly  avouched  also ;  and 
even  gloried  in,  as  exhibiting  a  notable  mark  of  "the  holy  and  only  church."  And 
just  in  proportion  as  her  temporal  power,  was  united,  in  adulterous  connection,  with 
the  spiritual,  have  the  friends  of  blood  and  havoc  been  born  and  nursed  by  popery, 
and  turned  loose  in  their  unmuzzled  ferocity,  on  the  bleeding  nations  of  the  earth  ! 

We  conceal  not  that  Protestants  have  persecuted,  even  unto  death.  We  deplore  the 
existence  of  that  civil  law  by  which  the  magistrates  of  Geneva,  with  Calvin  consent- 
ing, did  doom  the  unhappy  Servetus  to  death.  We  deplore  the  scenes  enacted  in 
Protestant  Britain;  and  the  cruelty  to  some  members  of  the  society  of  Friends,  in  the 
early  days  of  New  England. 

But,  we  beg  all  men,  Jew,  infidel,  and  christian,  to  render  justice  to  the  Protestant 
world;  and  mark  the  radical  difference  in  this  matter.  There  is  no  doctrine, — no, 
not  one  idea  in  the  Holy  Bible, — nor  in  the  Protestant  creeds,  and  canons,  that  teach- 
es, or  invites,  or  even  insinuates  a  wish  to  persecute.  It  is  an  affecting  truth  that 
"evil  communications  corrupt  good  morals!"  Our  first  Protestant  Fathers  were 
nursed,  and  brought  up  in  Popery.  It  is  mortifying  to  reflect  that  they  drank  in  the 
persecuting  spirit,  from  the  breasts  of  "Holy  Mother."  That  savage  lioness  taught 
men  to  hunt  the  prey;  and  revel  in  human  blood!  And,  when  they  escaped  from 
her  den,  and  her  devilish  training,  it  took  many  a  long  age  to  eradicate  from  their 
bones,  and  marrow,  this  king's  evil,— this  jiopish  mania!  Moreover,  the  civil  laws 
of  each  kingdom  were  corrupted,  and  poisoned  by  popery.  Intolerance  and  persecu- 
tion were  enacted  in  the  statute  books  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  Europe.  The  magis- 
trates of  Geneva  and  John  Calvin  did  not  enact  that  bloody  law,  under  which  Serve- 
tus suffered.  The  Romish  laymen  and  priests  enacted  it!  The  Protestants  did  not 
enact  the  intolerant  laws  of  England:  the  Romish  church  enjoined  the  priest-ridden 
kings  of  that  realm  to  enact  them.  Nay,  so  far  did  Rome  carry  her  persecuting 
power,  even  in  defiance  of  the  crown  of  England,  that  by  a  law  passed  under  Henry 
IV.,  a  bishop  could  convict  the  subjects  of  heresy;  and,  "unless  the  convict  abjured, 

30* 


342  ROMAN  CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY. 

his  opinions,  or  if,  after  abjuration,  he  relapsed,  the  sheriff  was  bound,  ex  officio^  if 
required  by  the  bishop,  to  commit  the  man  lo  the  flames,  iviihout  waiting  for  the  con- 
sent  of  Ihe  crown!'"     See  Blackstone's  Com.  vol.  iv.,  Book  4,  c.  4,  Sect.  2. 

No  wonder,  therefore,  that  it  took  years,  and  incredible  labors  lo  purify  the  fou.nt- 
aius,  and  streams  from  the  pope's  universal  corrosive  poison ! 

When,  therefore,  a  Protestant  ^pervsecutes,  he  acts  against  the  pnre  precepts  of  the 
Bible,  and  against  all  the  solemn  articles  and  canons  of  his  holy  religion.  And, 
now,  no  Protestant  church  persecutes;  and  the  longer,  and  the  farther  removed  we 
are  from  the  popish  sect,  the  more  completely  is  the  demon  of  persecution  expelled 
from  every  church,  and  every  family,  and  every  soul,  and  heart!  But  ferstcution 
is  taught  as  a  dogma,  and  a  regular  canon,  by  the  pope  and  all  his  priests!  No  bloody 
edict  has  been  revoked  :  they  are  suspended  in  the  pope'sold  paralytic,  and  withered 
hand:  but  never  have  they  been  revoked.  And  never  has  a  breath  of  disavowal, 
or  even  disapprobation  gone  forth  against  the  persecutions  enacted  by  her.  The 
Roman  catholic  church  persecutes  by  canon  and  rule  !  She  cannot  even  repent  of 
her  persecutions.  She  would  inflict  a  death  wound  in  her  own  heart,  did  she  disa- 
vow bloody  persecution  !  For,  to  retrace  her  steps,  and  repent,  is  to  abandon  her 
jprominent  attribute  of  infallibility  ! 

In  proof  of  our  assertion,  I  ^h all,  jfirsf,  give  your  standard  authorities,  that  the 
Romish  church  makes  persecution  an  essential,  unrepealed  dogma  of  her  religion: — 
and,  second,  illustrate  this  dogma  by  her  uniform  practice.  In  other  words,  I  shall 
show  that  she  makes  it  a  principle  of  cotiscinnce  to  persecute  by  the  sword  of  her 
viouth ;  and  by  the  secular  sword.  And  this,  I  beg  leave  to  remind  3'qu,  Fathers,  is 
according  to  the  letter  of  the  prediction  of  St.  John,  relative  to  this  "bloody  Beast." 
Revelation  xiii.  5,  &c.  "And  there  was  given  unio  the  Beast,  a  ?nou//i  speaking 
great  things,  and  blasphemies  ;  and  power  was  given  unto  him  to  continue  forty  and 
two  months:  and  he  opened  his  mouth  in  blasphemy  against  God;  to  blaspheme  his 
name,  and  his  tabernacle,  and  them  that  dwell  in  heaven.     And  it  was  given  to  him 

to  make  war  with  the  saints;  and  to  overcome  them .." 

First: — She  persecutes  by  the  sivord  of  the  mouth.  This  divides  itself  into  tivo 
forms  of  ferocious  assault.  1st.  Byher  brutal  mode  of  cursingand  excommunicating. 
In  addition  to  the  specimen  already  given,  I  shall  subjoin  a  form  of  what  is  more 
common  in  her  discipline.  The  model  is  that  which  was  uttered  by  the  pope  against 
his  Alum  maker,  for  his  eloping  from  his  Alwn  works ;  and  carrying  the  chemical 
secret  to  England.  Icopy.it  from  Ledger  Book  of  Rochester  church:  and  Henry 
Spelman's  Glossary,  p.  206.  And  from  Prof.  Bruce's  Free  Thoughts;  Dr. 
M'Culloch's  Popery  condemned :  and  Glasg.  Prot.  vol.  i.  ch.  5.  I  abridge  it  thus  : — 
"May  God  the  Father  curse  him!  May  God  the  Son  curse  him!  May  the 
Holy  Ghost  curse  him !  May  the  holy  Cross  curse  him  !  May  the  holy  and  eternal 
Virgin  Mary  curse  him  !  May  St.  Michael  curse  him  !  May  John  the  Baptist 
curse  hira  !  May  St.  Peter,  and  St.  Paul,  and  St.  Andrew,  and  all  the  Apostles, 
and  disciples,  curse  him !  May  all  the  martyrs  and  confessors  curse  him  !  May  all 
the  saints,  from  the  beginning  of  time,  to  everlasting,  curse  hira !  Ma}'  he  be  cursed 
in  the  house,  and  in  the  fields !  May  he  be  cursed  while  living,  and  while  dying !  May 
he  be  cursed  in  sitting,  in  standing,  in  lying,  in  walking,  in  working,   in   eating,  in 

drinking,  in  mingendo,  in  .'. May  he  be  cursed   in  all  the  powers  of  his  body; 

within,  and  without.     May  he  be  cursed  in  the  hair  of  his  head,  in  his  temples,  eye- 
brows, his  forehead,  his  checks,  and  his  jaw-bones,  his  nostrils,  bis  teeth,  his  lips,  his 


ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  343 

throat,  his  shoulders,  his  arms,  his  wrists,  his  hands,  his  breast,  his  stomach,  his 
reins,  *  *  *  *  his  legs,  his  feet,  his  joints,  his  nails !  May  he  be  cursed  from  the 
crown  of  his  head,  to  the  sole  of  his  feet!  May  heaven,  and  all  the  powers  therein, 
rise  against  him  to  damn  him  ;  unless  he  repent,  and  make  satisfaction  !     Amen." 

2.  Her  doctors  conspire  against  the  human  race,  by  strenuously  advocating  the 
principles  of  persecution. 

Bellarmine,  De  Laicis,  Lib.  iii.  cap.  21.,  is  your  church's  sovereign  mouth-piece. 
He  gives  a  labored  defence  of  the  princij)le  of  persecution  ;  or  the  putting  of  heretics 
to  death,  merely  for  differing  from  "Holy  Mother,"  in  their  religious  creed!  Here 
are  his  words  : — "Posse  hereticos,  &:c.  That  heretics  condemned  by  the  church, 
may  be  punished  with  temporal  penalties,  and  even  with  death.  We  w  ill  briefly 
show  that  the  church  has  the  power,  and  it  is  her  duty,  to  cast  off  incorrigible  here- 
tics, especially  those  who  have  relapsed,  and  that  the  secular  power  ought  to  inflict 
on  such,  temporal  punishments,  and  even  death  itself." 

Then  follows  a  long  list  of  painful  arguments  in  defence  of  these  ferocious  dogmas; 
which  a  christian  cannot  read  without  shuddering !  He  argues  from  the  holy  Bible 
of  the  God  of  mercy:  from  civil  laiv ;  canon  law;  the  Fathers;  and  from  reason! 
This  last  argument  is  curious:  it  is  this, — It  is  a  benejit  to  the  heretic,  to  be  sent  out  of 
the  ivorld,  as  soon  as  possible.  For  the  longer  he  lives,  the  worse  ht  becomes ;  and  if 
he  is  soon  sent  off,  his  hell  will  be  so  much  lighter ! 

Thus  the  cardinal  "deals  damnation  round  the  land"  on  all  who  differ  from  you : 
and  with  a  singular  species  of  popish  compassion,  he  is  for  hurrying  all  heretics 
speedily  to  death;  and  into  hell,  in  order  to  make  it  a  little  less  intolerable  ! 

In  chap.  22,  Bellarmine  answers  objections.  Luther  had  taught  "  that  the  church 
of  God  had  never,  from  the  beginning,  to  his  time,  burned  a  heretic  :  that  it  was  not 
the  mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  they  should  be  burned."  Here  is  the  reply  of  this 
cardinal  in  the  name  of  all  popery, — 

"  I  reply,  this  argument  admirably  proves  not  the  sentiment,  but  the  ignorance,  or 
impudence  of  Luther:  for  as  almost  an  ii^fnite  number  were  either  burned;  or  other- 
wise put  to  death,  Luther  either  did  not  know  it,  and  was  therefore  ignorant ;  or,  if  he 
knew  it,  he  is  convicted  of  impudence  and  falsehood  !  For  that  heretics  were  often 
burned  by  the  church,  may  be  proved  by  adducing  a  few  from  many  examples." 

"Argument  second.  Experience  shows  that  terror  is  not  useful  in  such  cases.  "I 
reply,"  says  Bellarmine,  "that  experience  proves  the  contrary — for  the  Donatists, 
Manicheans,  and  Albigenses  were  routed,  and  annihilated  by  arms.^^ 

Such,  also,  is  the  doctrine  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  ii.  IL  iii.  p.  58.  "  Haeretici 
possenf,  &c.     Heretics  may  not  only  be  excommunicated,  but  justly  Jcilled.'^ 

And  all  this  is  not  the  doctrine  of  such  intolerant  cardinals,  and  blood  thirsty  saints 
only.  Even  Bossuet,  all  politeness,  and  all  accommodation  as  he  affected  to  be,  in 
his  bigotry,  advocated  intolerance,  and  persecution.  Speaking  of  the  power  of  the 
sword  in  matters  of  religion,  he  says, — "  Itcannot  be  called  in  (piestion,  without  weak- 
ening, or  maiming  the  public  authority,  or  power.  No  illusion  can  be  more  dange- 
rous than  making  toleration  a  mark  of  the  true  church."  "No,"  adds  he, — "the 
church's  holy  severity,  and  her  holy  delicacy,  forbad  her  such  indulgence,  or  rather 
softness!"  Boss.  Oeuvres,  Tom.  iii.  p.  41L  Paris,  1747. 

But  we  ascend  to  higher  authority.  No  pope  since  the  beginning  of  the  8th  cen- 
tury can  be  named,  who  condemned,  or  even  disapproved  of  persecution!  Popes 
Urban,  Innocent  III.,  and  VIII. ,  Clement,  Honorius,  and  Martin,  carried  out  their 


344  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

avowed  dogmas;  and  were  ferocious  patrons  of  extermination!  Urban  11.  sirnamed 
The  Turbulent,  in  A.  D.  1090.,  declared  in  his  Bull, — "Tliat  no  one  is  to  be  deemed 
a  murderer,  who,  burning  with  zeal  for  the  interests  of  Mother  church,  shall  Mil 
excommunicated  persons."  See  Pithou,  cori)US  Jur.  canon,  p.  324,  Paris  Edit. 
1687.  It  is  true,  Bruys,  speaking  of  him,  calls  his  morals  "diabolical  and  infernal." 
Hist.  Des.  Papes,  Tom.  ii.  p.  508.  But  then,  he  was  no  worse  than  his  successors, 
who  faithfully  copied  his  maxims  against  heretics. 

We  have  the  decisions  of  National  Councils  enjoining  the  extermination  of  heretics, 
8uch  as  that  of  Toleda,  Tours,  Oxford,  Narbona,  and  Tolosa.  See  Edgar's  Varia- 
tions, p.  244.  That  of  Tolosa  was  pre-eminent  in  its  fury;  and  what  is  striking,  it 
waged  war  against  the  Holy  Bible  also.  "No  layman  was  permitted  on  the  penalty 
of  heresy,  to  have  the  scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  in  his  vernacular 
idiom."  This  was  exacted  in  1229  :  and  has  never  to  this  hour  been  repealed.  See 
Labbeus,  vol.  xiii.  p.  1239.     Alexand.  His.  Eccles.  vol.  xx.  p.  668. 

And  what  is  more,  we  have  the  decisions,  and  the  recorded  practice  of  the  General 
Councils,  namely,  Third  of  the  Lateran,  and  the  Fourth  of  the  Lateran,  in  1215. 
In  canon  iii.  De  hereticis,  it  enacted, — "Let  secular  powers, — if  necessary,  be  com- 
pelled by  church  censures, — to  endeavor,  in  all  good  faith,  according  to  their  power, 
to  destroy  all  heretics  (Protestants,)  marked  by  the  church,  out  of  the  lands  of  their 
Jurisdiction/^  It  then  proceeds  to  enact  that  if  princes  refuse  to  cut  off,  and  destroy 
heretics,  "they  shall  be  accursed,  and  their  subjects  absolved  from  their  allegiance." 
I  refer  to  Labb.  Tom.  xiii.  934:  Bruy's  Hist.  Pap.  Tom.  iii.  p.  148. 

The  council  of  Constance  was  fully  a  match  to  this,  in  Satanic  severity,  and 
blood-thirstiness.  It  was  convoked  in  1414.  The  pope,  Martin  V.,  presided  in  this 
assembly.  They  not  only  condemned,  and  burned  alive,  the  holy  martyrs  Huss, 
and  Jerome  of  Prague;  but  issued  thair  terrific  anathema  against  the  millions  of 
heretics  over  all  Europe  ;  and  commanded  all  emperors,  kings,  and  princes  dutifully 
to  proceed,  forthwith,  in  their  extermination,  by  fire  and  sword.  And  the  decrees  of 
this  council  were  applauded,  and  confirmed  by  the  last  council  of  your  church, — the 
council  of  Trent,  which  lent  it  all  the  authority  which  it  gave  to  any  dogma  of  your 
church. 

So  late  as  1825,  the  late  pope  Leo  XII.  exhibited  the  sentiments  of  Rome  in  our 
day.  In  his  Bull  of  a  jubilee,  he  makes  two  conditions  of  the  faithful  "receiving  a 
plenary  indulgence,  and  pardon  of  all  sins;"  namely, — "the  exaltation  of  the  holy 
Mother  church,  and  the  extirpation  of  heresy.''^ 

So  avowedly  is  this  a  dogma  of  the  Romish  church,  that  it  is  introduced  into  the 
class  book  of  the  college  of  Maynooth,  in  Ireland  :  and  every  candidate  for  the  priest- 
hood is  painfully  taught  it.  Here  is  the  sentiment  I  allude  to  : — "  the  church  retains 
its  power  over  all  heretics,  &c. ;  although  they  may  no  longer  belong  to  its  body  ;  as 
a  general  has  a  right  to  inflict  -punishment  on  a  deserter.'^  That  is,  as  we  all  know, 
capital  punishment.  See  Delahogue's  Tract.  Theolog.  cap.  8.  De  Membris  :  p.  404., 
Dublin  Edit.  1795. 

"In  fine,  I  have  only  to  lay  before  the  American  public,  one  extract  from  the  oath 
which  every  Romish  bishop  must  swear  before  he  is  consecrated.  I  beg  my  reader's 
attention  to  it.  "  I  swear, — that  heretics  and  schismatics,  and  rebels  to  our  Lord,  the 
Lord  pope,  or  his  successors,  I  will  to  the  extent  of  my  power,  persecute  and  beat 
down:  pro  posse  persequar  et  impugnabo. — So  help  me  God,  and  the  holy  gospels  of 
God."     See  Pontif.  Rom.  De  consec.  Elec.  Episcop.  p.  57.     Hence,  every  Romish 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 


345 


bishop  must,  by  solemn  oath,  be  a  persecutor.  He  has  no  other  choice.  If  he  is 
liberal  and  gracious  lo  heretics,  and  does  not  persecute  them  as  far  as  he  can,  then  is 
he  a  deHberately  perjured  man!  ! 

Nothing,  therefore,  is  more  obvious  than  this, — that  the  principle  of  tolerance  and 
liberaUty,  is  not  at  the  choice  of  any  Romish  priest,  or  subject  of  the  Roman  court. 
Intolerance  and  persecution  are  as  essential,  necessary,  and  integral  a  dogma  of 
popish  faith,  and  practice,  as  is  the  mass,  or  the  papal  supremacy!  ! 

And  I  call  on  every  patriot,  and  every  christian  in  the  United  States,  and  beg  their 
attention  to  this  fact, — that  every  one  of  the  po[)ish  clergy  in  Europe,  and  in  our 
Republic,  profess,  upon  their  great  and  solemn  oath  on  the  cross,  and  holy  sccravienty 
to  receive,  obey,  and  practice,  this  principle  of  persecution,  that  has  thus  received  the 
sanction  of  the  whole  Romish  church  ;  and  has  been  marked,  as  Edgar  says,  with 
the  sign  manual  of  infallibility !  And  this  principle  they  will  reduce  to  practice, 
under  pains  of  perjury,  as  soon  as  they  can  gain  the  ascendancy,  in  our  Republic! 
Then  will  return  the  days  of  the  reign  of  the  bloody  Queen  Mary.  Then  will  be 
the  new  reign  of  Terror,  by  the  fire  and  the  faggot,  and  the  horrid  Inquisition,  in  our 
once  free  and  happy  land !  It  is  for  this  that  the  sons  of  St.  Dominic  long  and  pray! 
It  is  for  this  the  Jesuits  are  toiling  over  our  country !  It  is  for  this  object  the  Roman 
catholic  powers  of  Europe  are  expending  such  large  sums  annually,  and  pouring  in, 
upon  us,  myriads  of  the  pope's  household  troops! 

I  am,  Rev.  Fathers,  yours,  &c. 
W.  C.  B. 


LETTER  XXXVIII. 


TO     THE     LORD    AT^CHBISHOP,    AND    THE    LORDS    BISHOPS    OF    THE    nOMAN     CATHOLIC 
CHURCH,    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Ferocious   Cruelty  an  Essential  Attribute  of  Popery. 

"I  saw  a  woman  sit  upon  a  scarlet  colored  Beast:  she  was  arrayed  in  purple  and  scarlet: 
and  I  saw  her  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and  with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of 
Jesus." — St.  5ohn. 

Reverend  Fathers: — The  patience  with  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  listen 
to  my  exhibitions,  shows  at  least,  tliis  much,  that  you  feel  deeply  on  the  subject.  I 
now  invite  your  attention  to  it  for  the  last  lime. 

Second,  and  last: — These  princi{)le5  of  persecution,  which  are  peculiar,  and  essen- 
tial to  tlie  Roman  catholic  rehgion,  have  been,  with  scrupuloi.s  lideliiy,  le  luced  to 
practice,  in  innumerable  terrific  instances. 

The  persecutions  of  the  Waldenses,  and  Albigenses, — the  genuine  successors  of  the 
ancient  apostolic  Italick  church,  after  the  church  of  Rome  began  her  fatal  apostacy, 
have  been  regular,  and  protracted  from  generation  to  generation.  Pope  Innocent  III. 
succeeded  in  cnlling  into  the  field  500,000  warriors  against  them  !  France  alone 
brought  200,000  men  as  her  share.  The  carnage  on  both  sides,  was  appflHing,  for 
the  Waldenses  defended  themselves.  The  leader  of  the  persecutors  was  Earl  Mont- 
ford;  aad  his  name  will  pass  down  with  deeper,  and  deeper  infamy,  as  truth  ^jrevails' 
and  history  wields  her  impartial  pen. 

When  the  city  of  Beaicrs  was  taken  by  the  crusaders,  in  1209,  the  Albigenses  werd 


346 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 


SO  mixed  with  the  papists,  in  the  rnele  of  battle,  that  the  warriors  did  not  know  their 
own.  ''Kill  all,''  cried  the  papal  missionary  Arnauld,  ''and  God  will  knoiv  his 
own."'  Seven  hundred  christians  were  slain  by  the  papists  in  one  church:  60,000 
perished,  in  all!  This  last  is  the  number  set  down  by  Mezerey  and  Velly  :  Edjrar  p. 
252.  When  the  city  Lavaur  was  taken,  the  governor  and  his  lady  were  cruelly 
murdered  :  80  gentlemen  were  slaughtered  in  cold  blood;  400  christians  were  burned 
alive;  and  all  the  rest  of  the  citizens  indiscriminately  put  to  the  sword!  Velly» 
vol.  iii.  441.  454. 

When  Languedoc  was  invaded  by  these  monsters,  o;?e  hundred  thousand  Albigenses 
fell  in  one  day!  See  Bruys,  vol.  iii.  139.  Houses  were  burned,  females  violated, 
towns,  and  cities  laid  in  smouldering  ruins.  Gallantly  did  the  brave  christians  defend 
themselves:  and  some  idea  of  their  havoc  may  be  conceived,  before  they  were  exter- 
minated, from  the  fact,  that  300,000  crusaders  fell  dead  on  the  plains  of  Languedoc ! 
And  for  the  blood  of  each  one  of  these  is  the  Roman  catholic  church  accountable  to 
God ;  as  well  as  for  that  of  the  christians !     For  she  brought  the  war. 

But  who  can  travel  in  minute  detail,  over  the  lands  visited  by  the  demon  of  popish 
intolerance  and  persecution?  Who  can  follow  him  in  his  butcheries  of  Moors,  Jews» 
and  Christians  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  in  the  times  of  Charles  V.,  and  his  son  Phihp  I 
What  must  have  been  the  carnage  of  the  commons,  when  this  king  witnessed  an  Auto 
da  Fe,  in  which  23  Spanish  nobles,  were  burned  at  the  stake,  before  him,  all  at  one 
time! 

What  man  has  yet  conceived  the  agonies,  and  bloodshed  of  the  christians  who  fell  in 
Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy,  before  the  demon  of  popery  succeeded  in  extinguishing 
the  Reformation,  in  the  sixteenth  century  ? 

Who  can  follow  the  demon  of  popish  intolerance  and  persecution,  over  the  plains, 
and  mountains  of  Bohemia  ?  What  tongue  can  tell  the  horrors  of  popish  persecution 
inflicted  on  three  millions  of  chiibiiau  Huu^aiicjixs,  during  no  less  than  three 
centuries? 

Who  can  conceive  the  horrors  of  the  French  massacre  at  Merindol,  at  Grange! 
Who  can  conceive  the  infinite  horrors  of  the  St.  Bartholomew  massacre,  at  Paris! 
"The  streets,"  says  a  popish  historian, — '*were  paved  with  dead  bodies,  and  the 
mortally  wounded;  the  gateways  were  literally  choked  up  with  them.  •  There  were 
'heaps  of  them  in  the  squares;  the  small  streams  were  filled  with  human  blood,  which 
flowed  in  great  torrents  to  the  river.  Six  hundred  houses  were  repeatedly  pillaged.'* 
See  Mezerai,  Hist.  De  France,  Tom.  ii.  p.  1098.     Paris  Edit.  1646. 

Similar  massacres  were  continuously  enacted,  at  the  same  time,  at  Meaux ;  at 
Troyes;  at  Orleans;  atNevers;  at  La  Charite;  at  Toulouse;  at  Bourdeaux ;  at 
Lyons!  France  was  drenched  in  the  blood  of  Huguonot  christians,  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  IX.  ! 

What  pen  has  ever,  yet,  done  justice  to  the  sufferings,  and  barbarous  slaughter  of 
the  French  christians,  under  Louis  XIV.,  when  that  odd  compound  of  religious 
bigotry,  and  savage  ferocity,  revoked  the  edict  of  Nantz;  and  drove  a  nation  of  Pro- 
testants to  the  gibbet,  the  dungeon,  and  perpetual  exile  ! 

What  hand  has  yet  delineated  the  horrid  scenes  of  war,  and  massacre,  by  the 
Duke  of  Alva,  on  the  jdains  of  Holland  !  What  history  has  yet  recorded  all  the 
sufferings  of  British  christians;  the  sorrows,  and  deaths  of  the  Wickliffites,  and  Lol- 
lard^;,  andCuldees,  and  Protestants  ! 

Wbat  tongue  has  ever  yet  tQl4  the  tale  of  the  christian  church's  sufferings,  in  Ire* 


ROMAN     CATHOT.ir    rONTROVF.RST. 


347 


land,  previous  to  her  being  over-run  by  popery,  in  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century: 
and  of  her  Protestant  children  of  later  days,  by  assai^sinaiions,  and  the  most  revolting 
Irish  massacres!  Her  sighs,  her  groans,  and  tears,  and  blood  have  never  been  re- 
cordeii  on  earth.  They  are  known  only  to  the  Most  High:  they  are  recorded  in  the 
book  of  divine  remembrance  alone  ! 

Now,  nothing  is  more  evident  on  the  page  of  history,  than  this  fact,  that  all  thes8 
persecutions,  and  massacres  were  done  at  the  instigation,  and  by  the  command  of  the 
popes.  They  never  concealed  it:  they  actually  gloried  in  it.  To  use  the  disgusting 
cant  of  papal  hyjjocrisy, — ''It  was  all  in  the  way  of  purifying  the  nations  from 
heresy  ;  and  of  extending  the  Catholic  religion!"  The  Letter  of  Pius  V.,  is  yet  ex- 
tant,  in  which  he  stirred  up  Charles  to  the  Parisian  massacre.  See  Ftncb's  Rom. 
Controv.  p.  140.  And  several  historians,  Roman  catholics,  record  the  rejoicings  at 
Rome,  by  pope  Gregory  XIII.  This  mournful,  and  atrocious,  and  national  murder 
of  Protestants,  was  celebrated  at  Rome  with  extreme  pomp.  The  pope  led  the  way 
in  savage  exuhation ;  and  solemnly  offered  thanks  to  God  for  the  massacre  of  the 
Huguonots!  A  medal  was  struck  to  commemorate  this  victory  over  humanity,  and 
the  christians  of  France;  an  engraved,  London  fac-simile  of  which  is  in  my  posses- 
sion. The  literary  Roman  catholic  can  see  a  perfect  description  of  it  in  Bonanni'* 
Nunviiisinata  Pontiff.  Rom.  Tom.  i.  p.  3o6;  Rome,  1699. 

Besides  this,  every  one  who  has  seen  the  paintings  in  the  Vatican,  must  have  seen 
three  pictures,  got  up,  and  exhibited  for  centuries  to  commemorate  this  massacre.  The 
iirst  exhibits  the  admiral  Coligoy  mortally  stabbed  :  \he  aecnnd,  the  admiral  butchered 
in  his  bouse,  with  all  his  family  :  the  third  exhibhs  king  Charles  IX.,  approving 
the  massacre  I 

In  order  to  enable  you  to  form  some  faint  idea  of  Roman  catholic  persecutions,  I 
shall  set  down  the  following  estimate  of  the  numbers  that  have  fallen  vic'ims  to  the 
intolerance,  and  sanguinary  religion  of  Rome.  And  I  beg  leave  here  to  introduce  it 
with  the  remark,  that  had  the  pope,  or  a  council,  or  the  Romish  church  ever  seen  fit 
to  disavow,  and  lament  over  these  wholesale,  and  national  murders,  and  massacres, — 
those  in  that  communion  should  never  have  heard  one  reproachful  word  :--never 
have  met  one  charge  of  persecution  and  murder,  from  us.  But  Rome  has  never  dis- 
avowed the  principle;  never  condemned,  nor  protested  against  the  blood-guiltiness  of 
these  massacres,  by  their  pope  ;  and  their  forefathers.  Hence  that  church,  like  every 
other  incorporate  body,  is  chargeable  with  tht  debt  of  that  bloodshed  ;  as  really  as  if 
they  had  been  aiders,  and  abettors,  and  the  most  manifest  accomplices !  If  vou.  Fa- 
thers, or  any  one  in  your  communion,  have  ever  disavowed  this  dogma  of  your 
church  ;  or  condemned  herforpier  persecutions,  by  any  act,  or  dechration  whatever, 
show  us  the  bull,  or  the  edict.  I  here  challenge  all  your  literary  men  to  produce 
any  disavowal,  or  one  solitary  confession  authorized  by  the  pope,  or  church  of  Rome, 
in  opposition  to  the  principle,  or  practice  of  persecution. 

Here,  then,  before  God  and  nian,  I  do  most  solemnly  charge  on  you.  Fathers,  and 
all  those  in  open  communion  with  your  persecuting  church,  this  blood  guiltmess 
which  has  ever  rested  on  her! 

There  perished  under  pope  Julian  200,000  christians:  and  by  the  French  massacre, 
on  a  moderate  calculation,  in  3  months,  100,000.  Of  the  Waldenses  there  iierished 
150,000  ;  of  the  Albigenses  150,000.  There  perished  by  the  Jesuits  in  30  years  only, 
900,000.  The  Duke  of  Alva  destroyed  by  the  common  hangman  alone,  o6,CC0  per- 
sons; the  amount  murdered  by  him  is  set  down,  by  Grotius,  at  100,000!     There  per- 


348  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CONTROVERSY. 

ished  by  the  fire,  and  tortures  of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain,  Italy,  and  France,  150,000. 
This  does  not  include  the  exiled,  those  confined  for  life :  and  those  who  died  in  conse- 
quence of  hard  usage,  after  they  had  escaped.  In  the  Irish  massacres,  in  -whicli  were 
displayed  all  the  horrid  arts,  and  tortures  of  the  Spanish  Incpiisition,  there  perished 
350,000  Protestants!  Besidesthose  who  were  burned  in  bloody  Queen  Mary's  time, 
or  who  died  on  the  scaffold, — 22,000  were  driven  into  exile,  after  losing  their  all. 

To  sum  up  the  whole,  the  Roman  catholic  church  has  caused  the  ruin,  and  destruc- 
tion of  a  million  and  a  half  of  Moors  in  Spain;  nearly  two  millions  of  Jews,  in  Europe! 
In  Mexico,  and  South  America,  including  the  islands  of  Cuba  and  St.  Domingo, 
fifteen  millions  of  Indians,  in  40  years,  fell  victims  to  popery.  And  in  Europe,  and 
the  East  Indies,  and  in  America,  50  millions  of  Protestants,  at  least,  have  been  mur- 
dered by  it ! 

Thus  the  church  of  Rome  stands  forward  before  the  world,  "the  woman  in  scarlet, 
on  the  scarlet  colored  Beast!"  A  church  claiming  to  be  cftns^jan,  drenched  in  the 
blood  of  sixty-eight  millions,  and  five  hundred  thousand  human  beings!  And,  horrible 
as  this  is,  what  is  all  this  guilt,  and  overwhelming  damnation,  compared  to  the  infinite 
guilt  of  her  seducing,  and  sacrificing,  if  grace  prevented  it  not, — the  souls  of  hundreds 
of  millions  of  her  victims,  on  the  altar  of  Moloch,  and  of  dooming  them,  so  far  as 
her  fatal  iufluence  can  go,  to  the  pains  of  the  second,  and  never-ending  death  ! 

Can  any  christian,  in  the  sober  exercise  of  reason,  conceive  this  sanguinary  power, 
to  be  a  branch  of  Christ's  pure  and  holy  church ! 

Can  any  politician  believe  that  such  principles  can  make  their  votaries  good  and 
orderly  citizens ! 

Does  not  outraged  humanity  utter  its  execrations  of  these  tenets,  in  the  deepest 
tone  of  irrepressible  indignation;  and  pronounce  the  Roman  catholic  church  the  pre- 
destinated son  of  perdition :  and  the  loorst  enemy,  on  earth,  of  the  human  race! — 
Rev.  Fathers,  you  can  answer  this,  if  you  will  permit  your  consciences  to  utter  their 
unrestrained  response.  But,  whether  you  will  answer  it,  or  not,  here, — you  must 
answer  it  at  the  bar  of  eternal  justice,  soon.  And  there  is  no  concealment,  no  eva- 
sion there ! 

And,  now,  I  have  done.  I  appeal  from  you,  in  your  present  delusion,  and  mortal 
error,  to  you,  as  you  shall  see,  and  feel, — w^hen  at  the  bar  of  God's  eternal  justice! 
There  I  shall  meet  you;  and  you  will  meet  me,  before  m^/ judge,  and  your  judge  J 
And  thereupon,  I  appeal  you,  and  your  predecessors  in  office,  of  3'our  guilty  deeds 
against  God's  holy  cause,  and  saints,  to  answer  for  them,  before  God's  judgment 
seat! 

It  will  be  known  there,  at  the  bar  of  Christ,  in  the  light  of  eternity,  whether  your 
cause,  or  our  cause,  was  the  cause  of  God,  and  of  our  country  !  And  whether,  or 
not,  our  ancestors,  massacred  by  the  Roman  catholic  church,  were  the  saints  and 
mart^'^rs  of  God ! 

To  my  Divine  Master  1  humbly  dedicate  these  Letters :  imploring  his  pardon  for 
any  thing  that  is  wrong  in  them;  and  his  blessing  on  whatever  is  proper,  and  useful, 
in  them,  to  vindicate  His  gospel,  and  His  royal  honor,  and  prerogatives  against  the 
grand  rebel,  and  usurper! 

Farewell,  Rev.  Fathers,  I  have  spoken  plainly,  because  I  am  on  a  perfect  footing 
of  equality  with  you, — occupying  as  high  a  rank  of  office  in  the  Protestant  Reformed 
church,  as  you  do  in  the  Roman  cathoUc  church  !  I  have  spoken  boldly, — because  I 
am  a  free  man,  and  no  Romish  slave !     I  have  spoken  often  indignantly, — yet  I  trust 


ROMAN     CATHOLIC    CONTROVERSY.  349 

in  charity, — because  I  have  been  rebuking  an  intruding  foreign  power;  au  audacious 
conspirator  against  the  liberties  of  our  republic  • — a  cold-blooded  ttsurper  ;  who  has 
taken  the  crown  from  Me  head  of  Hirrir  "on  whose  head  are  many  crowns:"  and 
who  has  trampled  the  gospel,  audits  ordinances  under  his  feet:  and  who  has  out- 
raged the  feelings  of  humanity:  and  who  has  taught  high  treason,  and  sown  discord 
in  every  nation  in  Europe,  in  South  America,  and  Mexico:  and  who  has  excited 
almost  every  war  in  all  these  lands,  from  time  immemorial;  and  v/ho  has  deluged 
the  earth  with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Christ ;  and  the  martyrs  of  patriotism,  for 
their  country's  cause ! 

Reverend  F'athers,  farewell  forever!  We  part,  to  meet  no  more  again,  until  we 
meet,  front  to  front,  at  the  judgment  seat  of  x\lmighty  God  !  One  of  your  number  has 
gone  to  his  account,  since  I  first  wrote  these  Letters.  I  do  humbly  pray  that  the  rich 
grace  of  God  may  be  given  to  each  of  you  who  survive ;  to  rest  on  you  ;  to  guide 
you  into  all  truth  ;  and,  finally,  conduct  you  into  the  mansions  of  glory  !     Amen. 

I  am,  Reverend  Fathers,  yours,  &c. 
W.  €.  B. 


A    CARD. TO    THE    PUBLIC. 

I  now  retire  from  the  field  of  the  Roman  catholic  controversy  :  because  it  is  proper 
to  stop,  when  one  is  done.  I  have  kept  possession  of  the  field,  undisputed,  by  any 
priest,  for  the  last  six  months.  But,  I  retire  with  an  assurance,  in  the  words  of  Mc- 
Gavin, — that  I  am  ready  to  return  to  the  discussion,  at  an  hour's  notice,  if  any  moral, 
regular,  and  respectable  popish  priest  shall  choose  to  renew  the  contest. 

I  tender  my  affectionate  regards  to  Mr.  Vandewater,  and  Mr.  S.  E.  Morse,  and  to 
all  those  editors  who  have  published  the  first  edition  of  these  Letters :  and  to  all 
those  distinguished  christians,  and  politicians,  who  kindly  sustained  me,  and  cheered 
me  on,  in  this  arduous  controversy. — May  God  bless  all  the  churches  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ;  and  prosper  our  government,  and  our  beloved  country.  And  in  his 
most  benignant  goodness,  may  He  avert  from  us,  and  our  children,  popery,  the  most 
pestilential  of  all  evils  in  church,  and  in  state!     Amen. 

W.  C  Bkownlke. 

New- York,  Nov.  25,  18.34. 


31 


NOTICE, 


The  reader  will  find  some  quotations,  and  statements  repeated  in  a  few  instances.  This 
was  deemed  necessary  to  elucidate  our  argument.  In  p.  p.  256,  257,  a  quotation  from  a 
Greek  father  (usually  bound  up  with  Justin  Martyr,)  has  been,  by  mistake,  repeated,  and 
ascribed  to  the  martvr.  We  have  studied  to  be  accurate,  yet  there  are  some  Errata.  In 
three  instances,  only,  is  the  sense  injured  by  them  :  viz.  In  p.  132,  1.  8  from  the  foot,  for 
foUoioinfr,  r,  foregoing;  in  p.  317.  1.  5,  from  the  foot,  for  with,  r.  without:  in  p.  325,  1.  19, 
from  tbe  foot,  befoi-e  sincerely  insert  the  word  not.  In  the  other  instances,  the  errors  are  in 
Utters.  The  following  is  a  list.  In  p.  p.  5,  6,  read  Auguslinians  :  in  p.  34,  1.  26,  r.  lose  :  p. 
46  1.  28,  r.  Gre'Jfory  VII. :  p.  68,  1.  9,  from  the  foot,  ]•.  Acts  II.  i  p.  75, 1.  20,  r.  sumrnam :  p.  80, 
1.  16  r.you,  and  then  your,  in  the  same  line  :  p.  83,  1.  20,  r.  belongs*,  p.  97,  1.  13,  strike  out  the 
repetition:  p.  100,  1.  9  from  the  foot,  r.  confessor:  p.  155,1.12,  r.  antediluvian:  p.  190,1. 
27,  r.  say:  p.  205,  1.  25,  r.  throw:  p.  264,  1.  6  from  tiie  foot,  for  was  r.  is  :  p.  323,  1.  22.  for 
hiimo  r.  homo  :  p.  330, 1.  24,  r.  the  pope  renew*.— 


APPENDIX. 


I.  ON  THE  COMPARATIVE  NUMBER  OF  ROMAN  CATHOLICS. 

First.  In  arriving  at  our  conclusion  on  "  the  minoritif"  of  the  Romi>h  church, 
"we  should  deduct  from  its  numbers  those  who  avoivtd  infidtlity  ;  and  treated  Popery 
with  ridicule.     Here  is  one  great  deduction;  say  one-fourth? 

Second.  Deduct  the  Christians,  of  various  names,  who  held  the  doctrines  of  the 
Waldenses,  and  were  nominallij  papists.     This   class  was  immensely  numerous. 

*' These  Waldenses,"  says  Rainerus, — '-were  in  nearly  every  country."  "They 
are  multiplied  through  all  lands,"  says  Sanderus.  "They  have  infested  a  thousand 
cities,"  says  Cfesarius.  "  They  spread  their  contagion  through  almost  the  whole  Latin 
u'orld,'^  says  Ciaconius.  "Scarcely  any  region  remained  free  and  untainted  from 
this  pestilence,"  says  Gretzen.  And  Popliuar  says  "they  have  spread  not  only 
through  France,  but  nearly  all  the  Ji^uropean  coasts:  and  appeared  in  Gaul,  Si)aiii, 
England,  Scotland,  Italy,  Germany,  Bohemia,  Saxony,  Poland,  and  Lithuania." 
"Their  numbers  in  those  [)laces,"  says  Benedict,  "were  prodigious,"  "  invahieruat, 
they  prevailed,"  or  exceeded  in  numbers.  Says  Newburgh, — "they  became  like  the 
sand  of  the  sea;  without  number;  mulriplicati  esse,  super  numerum  areuae  videan- 
tur."  See  Labbeus;  vol.  xiii.  p.  28.5,  Newburgh,  ii.  p.  13,  Edgar,  p.  54.  "Their 
number  was  ])rodigious  in  Sarmaiia,  Conslaniinople,  Philadelphia,  and  Bulgaria." 
See  iMathew  Paris",  306. 

And  many  of  these  were  no  mean  men.  Those  who  favored  the  Waldenses,  were 
found  in  all  ranks  of  society,  from  kings  to  peasants.  Hence  the  singular  nircum- 
stance  which  or.r.ured  at  the  baide  of  Murpf,  so  fatal  to  the  pious  Albigenses.  Among 
the  slain  was  found,  after  the  battle,  a  knight  in  black  armor.  On  examination  it 
was  found  to  be  Peter,  the  king  of  Arragon, — that  very  monarch  who  had  negotiated 
between  the  pope's  legate,  and  Beziers.  Near  hiin  lay  one  of  his  royal  sons,  with 
manv  nobles,  and  gentry,  and  vassals, — "■ivho  ivhile  ostensibly  supjiorting  the  Romish 
church,  had,  in  disguise,  been  assisting  the  Albigenses  !''     Jones'   Hist.  vol.  ii.  p.  133. 

During  these  ages,  may  we  not  deduct  from  the  Roman  catholic  ranks  one-half 
more  in  Europe  ?     The  above  surely  vv'ould  authorise  sometliing  like  this. 

Third.  We  deduct  the  Albigcnses  and  Waldenses;  the  B»)hemian  brethren,  Lol- 
lards, aud  all  classes  of  primitive  christians  in  the  churches  of  England,  Wales, 
Scotland,  Spain,  and  Ireland,  who  were  in  a  pure,  and  flourishing  state  before  the 
emissaries  of  Rome  overran  them.  What  vast  numbers  of  pure  cliristian  churches 
flourished  in  Scotland,  Spain,  and  Ireland,  before  the  Romans  introduced  popery 
among  them  ! 

Besides,  the  number  of  the  Waldenses  who  lived  in  a  body,  was  prodigious,  in 
addition  to  those,  who  were  scattered  over  the  bosom  of  the  popish  churches.  The 
diocese  of  Passau  alone  contained  80,01)0  of  them.  And  Daniel,  vol.  iii.  p.  510, 
says  that  they  "had  covered  with  their  errors,  all  Languedoc,  both  nobles,  and  popu- 
lace!" "There,"  says  Bernard,  Epist.  40. — "the  Roman  temj)les  were  left  with- 
out people,  the  people  without  [)astors,  and  the  pastors  without  respect."  And  we 
may  form  some  idea  of  the  number  of  these  people  in  the  Valiies,  from  their  sending 
an  army  to  defend  themselves,  of  100,000  young  men !     And  also  from  the  French 


352  APPENDIX. 

sending  300,000  men  against  them.  The  Pope  sent  Crusades  against  them,  as  he  did 
at^ainst  the  Saracens  of  ihe  East.  And  lor  nearly  200  years  these  christians  defend- 
ed themselves,  and  set  the  violence  of  their  enemies  at  defiance.  "They  injured 
the  church  in  the  West,"  says  a  Romish  author, — "as  much  as  the  infidels  in  the 
East."  And  "at  one  time,  they  had  nearly  overwhelmed  the  holy  warriors  of  the 
cross,  and  had  hoped  to  establish  heresy  on  the  ruins  of  Romanism !"  From  this 
we  may  form  some  idea  of  their  immense  nun)bers! 

I  wish  we  had  accurate  data  to  show  the  proportions  existing  between  them,  and 
the  Romanists.  How  erroneous  must  be  our  conception  of  the  numbers  //tenopposed 
to  the  Roman  catholics,  from  ihe  modern  staiisiics  of  JMalte  Brun  ! 

Fourth.  Next  deduct  the  whole  Greek  church  which  oi)posed  the  Romish  church. 
These  christians  covered  the  modern  Russ-ian  dcjminions  in  Europe  and  Asia  :  they 
covered  European  and  Asiatic  Turkey, — which  is  now  Mohammedan!  They  look 
in  Greece  ]')roper,  and  all  her  thousand  isles.  They  extended  over  Syria,  Mesopo- 
tamia, Asia  Minor,  Palestine,  Georgia,  and  Mingrelia.  From  one  fact  stated  in  one 
of  my  letters,  we  may  form  some  idea  of  the  number  of  christians  in  this  church. 
The  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  governed,  in  the  eleventh  century,  65  metropolitans, 
and  upwards  of  600  bishops.  And  these  bishops  must  have  had  many  hundreds,  if 
not  thousands  of  officiating  priests  under  them.  Some  bishops  of  Europe  have 
had  11,000  priests  under  their  ghostly  care. 

Fifth.  The  Neslorians  were  another  immense  class  of  christians.  These  extend- 
ded  their  dense  population  over  Asiatic  Turkey,  Arabia,  Persia,  Tartary,  India, 
China.  Cosmas,  as  quoted  by  Montfaucon  and  Edgar,  says,  that  "  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury their  churches  and  people  were  infinite, — unnumbered."  The  writer  Viiricius 
Tom.  i.  p.  76,  states  that  there  was  "  a  numerical  superiority  of  the  Neslorians  and 
the  Jacobins  (named  from  St.  James  the  Apostle)  over  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches !" 
Canisius  quotes  for  his  authorii}',  an  old  writer,  stating  the  same  calculation.  Polo, 
who  had  spent  seventeen  years  in  Tartary,  and  was  in  the  einploy  of  the  Cham 
speaks  of  their  iuimense  numbers,  scattered  over  Tartary,  China,  and  the  empire  of 
the  Moguls.  M.  Paris,  Godeau,  and  Thomassin  attest  "their  difiusion  through 
India,  Persia,  and  Tartary,"  and  add  that  "  their  multiplication  in  the  North,  and 
East,  was  nearly  to  infinity:" — "lis  s'y  multiplierent  presque  a  I'infini,  &c." 

Sixth.  The  class  of  christians  called  Monophysians  were  "  sjjread  over  more 
than  forty  kingdoms.'''  Then  the  Abyssinian  Christians  "  boasted  a  Christian 
empire  and  estahlishment.'''  The  myriads  of  these  have  never  been  estimated.  An- 
cient writers  speak  of  christians  there  as  innumerable.  Seventh,  there  are  the 
n^yriads  of  the  Armenian  churches  of  the  Enst.  Fecidps  the  country  which  gives 
them  their  name,  the}'  were  spread  over  Cappadocia,  Cilicia,  Syria,  Persia,  the  isles 
of  the  Mediterranean,  India,  Turkey,  Poland,  Transylvania,  Russia,  Hungary.  At 
Julfa  alone,  near  Is])ahan,  there  were  30,000  of  these  Christians;  20,000  of  their 
families,  or  about  120,000  persons,  resided  in  the  province  of  Guilam.  These  facts 
are  stated  by  Chardin,  in  his  Travels.  Forty  thousand  families,  or  240,000  indi- 
viduals of  them,  reside  in  India,  engagpd  in  the  inland  \Ya(]e:  and  200,000at  Constan- 
tinople, and  on  the  Bosphorus.  Cliardin,  vol.  ii.  97.  The  Arnenian  Patriarch  at 
Antioch,  has  under  him  14  metropolitans,  and  a  thousand  bishops! 

Eighth.  The  Syrian  churches  have  counted  immense  numbrrs.  They  had 
occupied  western  India,  Vvith  their  prodigious  host  of  members,  f()r  more  than  12C0 
years  before  they  had  ever  heard  of  the  name  of  the  pope,  or  the  Knmish  church. 
With  the  visit  of  Vasco  di  Gama,  "the  infernal  spirit  of  popery  and  persecution 
invaded  that  apostolical  church."  Godeau  reckons  their  j)opulation  in  Comorin, 
Coutan,  Malabar,  at  70,000  persons.  But,  the  hi-torian  adds,  "  their  numbers 
toward  the  West  and  North,  and  Cochin,  are  much  greater." 

Then,  there  were  the  Egyptians,  whose  See  was  at  Alexandria.  Who  has  ever 
numbered  the  christians  there;  and  all  alf)ng  the  Soiuhern  shores  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, even  the  prodigious  numbers  of  African  christians  whi^-h  flourished  from 
the  infancy  of  popery;  and  boasted  of  such  men  as  St.  Augustine,  and  St. 
Cyprian  ! 

I  repeat  the  words  of  Edgar,  whose  testimony  I  prefer  to  Malte  Brun,  or  any 


APPENDIX.  353 

modern  papist,  who  has  not  entered  inio  the  estimates  ofthe  comparative  numbers  in 
ancient  times;  nor  examined  the  statements  of  these  fathers,  and  travellers,  now 
quoted  by  us:  *'  The  Eurfjpean,  the  Asian,  and  African  denominaiionsthat  dissented 
from  popery  were  ybwr  times  more  numerousthan  the  partizans  of  Romanism,  when, 
prior  to  the  Reformation,  the  papacy  shone  in  all  its  glory.  Popery,  instead  of 
nniversality,  which  is  its  vain  boast,  was  never  embraced  by  more  than  a  ffth  part 
of  Christendom."     Variations  of  Popery,  p.  Q7,  Dublin  edition. 

II.    TAXJE    CANCELLARI^    APOSTOLIC^;    ET    TAX^    SACR^    PENITENTIARI5:, 
THE    pope's    bank;    or    chancery    TAX    BOOK. 

I  have  before  me,  these  TAXiE  in  two  different  editions:  First,  Taxa,  from  the 
archives  of  the  "  Roman  Chancery,"  in  the  British  Museum,  Nos.  1650, 1651,  1652. 
The  money  is  marked  in  Grossi ;  it  is  in  the  original  Latin. 

Second: — An  edition  in  the  original  Latin,  with  a  French  translation;  having  the 
the  text  as  copied  and  corrected  by  Antoine  Du  Pinet,  Lord  of  Noroy,  in  Franche- 
comte.  Rivet  drew  the  exact  copy  of  his  edition  from  the  Paris  edition  of  the  Chan- 
cery Book,  of  A.  D.  1520.  Voetius  also  exhibits  the  ancient  editions:  and  Bayle,  in 
his  Diet.  Article  Banck.  Claud  D'Espence,  a  popish  doctor  mentions  "■  Les  Taxes 
De  In  chancellarie  apostolique  ;"  as  a  book  well  known  in  his  day;  and  holds  it  up 
to  odium;  see  his  Digr.  ii.  ad  Epist.  ad  Titum.  cap.  1.  There  were  three  editions 
of  the  T(U^  at  Paris;  one  is  dated  1523;  iivo,  at  Cologn,  one,  dated  in  1532- 
tioo  at  Venice ;  one  at  VViriembergh,  dated  1538.  The  copy  from  which  I  take  my 
extracts,  is  printed  from  that  of  Pinet,  of  1564.  It  bears  date  of  1744.  Several 
editions  were  published  by  Protestant  doctors  in  the  17th  century :  they  were  care- 
fully printed  from  the  early  Roman  catholic  editions.  No  literary  man  now  denies 
the  authority  of  this  genuine  Romish  work.  I  refer  to  the  edition  now  before  me, 
and  the  statements  of  Dr.  Drelincourt,  and  Mons.  Bayle,  in  defence  of  its  authen- 
ticity. The  following  1  offer  as  a  specimen,  in  addition  to  what  I  have  given;  the 
pages  marked,  are  of  the  edition  of  Pinet,  which  1  use. 

"  Absolutio,  &c.  Absolution,  in  form,  for  a  dying  person,  the  tax  is,  14  carlins." 
See  p.  73.  "Absolution  for  a  confraternity,  or  a  Societas,  .50  carl." — p.  74.  Abso- 
lution of  a  priest  for  celebrating  a  clandestine  marriage,  7  carl." — p.  88.  "  Absolution 
of  a  priest  for  keeping  a  concubine,  and  a  dispensation  for  his  irregularitits,  &c.,  7 
carlins." — p.  89.  "Absolution  of  a  layman  for  keeping  a  concubine,  8  carlins." 
p.  89.      [It  is  one  carlin  more  wicked  in  him,  than  in  a  "  holy  priest !"] 

"  Absolutio  pro  eo  qui  matrem,  sorrorcm,  aut  aliam  consanguinem,  aut  corama- 
trem,  carnaliter  cognovit,  taxatur  ad  5  carlinos."  p.  89.  "  Absolutio  pro  eo  qui  vir- 
ginem  dejloravit,  6  carl."  p.  89.  "  For  forging  apostolical  dispensations,  17  carlins." 
p.  94.  "For  simony,  6  carl."  p.  90.  "A  layman  killing  any  ecclesiastic  less  than 
a  bishop,  provided  he  present  himself  at  the  apostolical  seat,  is  taxed  at  7,  or  8,  or 
carlins."  p.  94.     "  For  a  layman  killing  a  layman,  5  carl."  p.  96. 

From  Titulo  XX.  I  copy  the  following.  ''Absolution  for  him  who  has  killed  his 
father,  his  mother,  his  brother,  sister,  wife,  or  other  relative,  tax  is  5  carlins;  provid- 
ed he  be  a  layman:  if  any  of  them  be  of  clerical  rank,  he  must,  besides  that  fine, 
visit  the  apostolical  seat."  p.  97,  98.  In  Titulo  XXI.,  entitled  Additions  of  absolu- 
tions, thiscrime  is  taxed  at  "1  ducat,  5  carlins."  p.  102.  "For  striking  one's  wife, 
and  causing  a  miscarriage,  8  carlins."  p.  98.  "  For  a  woman  to  use  poisons  to  cause 
abortion,  tax,  5  carlins."  p.  99.  In  Titulo  XXL,  p.  103,  the  female  doing  this,  "is 
taxed  1  ducat,  6  carlins."  "For  pushing  oneself  into  holy  orders  without  the  bishop's 
license,  tax,  2  ducats."  p.  102.  "For  a  priest  who  strikes  another  priest  after  mass, 
3  ducats."  p.  103.  "But  if  he  beat  him  before  he  celebrated  the  mass,  the  tax  is 
2  ducats."  p.  103.      [In  ihejirst  case,  iheivafer  god  is  in  him;  in  the  last  it  is  not .'] 

"Absolution  and  permission  to  bury  a  suicide  in  holy  ground,  1  ducat,  9  carlins." 
p.  104.     "  For  a  priest  entering  holy  orders  by  simony,  4  ducats,  4  carlins."  p.  105. 

"  For  an  abbot  or  bishop  killing  a  man,  his  tax  is  .50  tournois,  12  ducats,  6  carlins." 
p.  123.  "  For  killing  a  bishop,  or  abbot,  or  any  superior  jirelate,  the  tax  is  36  tour- 
nois, 9  ducats."  p.  136.     These  are  amon/  "the  additional  taxes." 

81* 


354  APPENDIX. 

In  Titulo  XXXII.  and  XXXIII.  I  find  the  following:  "Absolution  for  a  mao 
killing  a  wife,  the  same  as  killing  a  father,  or  mother,  4  tournois,  1  ducat,  8  carlins." 
p.  139.  "Dispensation  to  the  man  who  has  killed  his  wife,  to  marry  another  wife, 
rlie  tax  is  8  turnois,  2  ducats,  i)  carlins."  p.  J  39.  "  P'or  killing  an  infant,  4  tour.  1 
due.  9  carl."  p.  139. 

"  Absolution  for  theft,  sacrilege,  burning  houses,  rapine,  perjury,  36  tour.  9  due." 
p.  145.  "Absolution  of  a  priest  for  the  most  licentious  deeds,  36  tour.,  3  ducats." 
p.  154.  "Absolution  and  disi)ensation  for  a  priest  keeping  a  concubine,  21  tour.  5 
due,  6  carlins."  "  Absolution  of  a  Nun  for  fornication,  36  touin.,  5  ducats."  p.  155. 
"  Absolution  of  an  adulterer,  4  tourn."  "Absolution  of  a  layman  for  any  act  of  un- 
c/€ff7mess,  6  tourn.  2ducats."  p.  156. 

"  Absolution  for  incest  with  a  sister,  a  mother,  or  any  near  relative,  4  tourn."  p.  156. 
"  Absolution  for  one  guilty  of  adultery,  and  incest,  6  tourn."  p.  157.  "- Absolutio 
De  Bestialitatey  et  Sodomia,  90  tourn.  12  ducats,  6  carlins."  p.  158. 

This  is  a  specimen  of  the  Pope's  Chancery  Book,  which  was  ordered  by  papal 
authority,  to  be  denied,  and  held  up  by  all  priests,  ''as  a  tcicked  forgery  of  the  Pro- 
testants.'' But  editions  still  exist,  in  Europe,  that  were  printed  in  1520.  Of  course 
it  could  not  have  been  invented  by  them.  Besides,  as  we  have  hinted  already,  Ro- 
mish doctors  of  more  pure  morals^,  have  declaimed  against  it,  as  a  regular,  author- 
ized book.  And  it  is  an  historical  fact  that  this  denial  was  not  given  out,  until  it  was 
discovered  by  the  papists,  that  the  book  had  fallen  into  the  Protestants'  hands  !  But, 
why  deny  the  Book  of  tarift",  when  every  one  who  goes  to  confession  does  yay  :  and 
every  friend  of  souls  in  purgatory  must 'pay  for  masses  to  bring  them  out! 

I  beg  leave  to  add  one  curious  quotation.  At  the  end  of  the  chapter  of  "  Absolu- 
tions to  marry  within  a  certain  degree,"  and  "in  case  of  divorces,"  it  is  added, — 
''  Note  well:  graces  and  dispensations  of  this  kind,  are  not  conceded  to  the  poor ;  be- 
cause they  have  no  means  ;  therefore  they  cannot  he  comforted."'  See  folio  XXIII., 
Edit.  1520:  and  p.  208.  Edit,  of  1625:  also  Folio  130,  Edit,  of  1545:  and  p.  19  of 
the  Edit,  which  I  use. 

In  reference  to  the  money  set  down  here,  I  shall  copy  these  exjdanations.  A 
Towr??o?s  weighed  2Deniers,V  grains:  there  were  58  in  a  marc.  A  Ducat,  a  gold 
coin,  valued,  it  is  supposed,  at  cent  dix  sols.  A  Carlin  is  the  same  as  the  Cros.  It  in 
asmall  silver  coin,  valued  at  7  sols,  in  France. 

In  fine  it  appears,  that  in  each  country,  the  priests  adapted  the  tax  to  the  current 
money  of  the  realm;  and  to  the  poorer,  or  richer  circumstances  of  the  knaves  who 
applied  for  relief,  and  a  good  bargain  in  this  popish  "traffic  of  human  souls." — See 
ilcvel.  xviii.  13» 

III.   GROSS    IMPURITY    ENJOINED  BY  POPES  AND  COUNCILS. 

In  the  Decretals  of  Grat'an.  Dist.  39,  we  have  the  fallowing  canon  from  the  coun- 
cil of  Toledo: — "Quinon  habet  uxorem,  loco  illius  concubinam  habere  debet.  He 
who  has  not  a  wife  owg-/jf  in  the  place  of  one,  to  have    a  concubine." 

In  thel7thcanon  of  that  council  it  was  enacted, — "Christiano  habere  licitum  est 
unam  tantum  aut  uxorem,  aut  certe  loco  nxoi  is  concubinam.  It  is  lawful  for  a  chris- 
tian to  have  only  one  wife  ;  or  certainly  in  the  place  of  a  wife,  a  concubine."  Pi- 
thou  Corpus  Jur.  canon,  p.  47,  Paris  Edit.  1687.  Binius,  Concil.  Tom.  i.  p.  737, 
739,  740,  states  the  same;  and  adds  that  the  canons  of  this  council  were  confirmed 
by  Pope  Leo.  Edgar's  Var.  of  Popery,  p.  503.  This  permission  says  Gianon,  ex- 
tends to  the  clergy  and  laity;  Hist,  of  Naples,  XI.  7. 

IV.    INDEX    EXPURGATORIUS. 

The  beat  definition  of  the  use  of  the  Index,  is  given  by  a  Spanish  Roman  catho- 
lic in  the  Lond.  Cath.  Magaz.ofl832,  p.  50.  Says  Mr.  Fejada,-— "  The  Indexes  Ex- 
pur^atory  are  employed  in  those  kingdoms  altogether  catholic;  and  in  which  there 
is  no  liberty  in  worship,  or  of  printing  permitted."  Heshould  have  added, — where 
noman  is  allowed  the  use  of  his  own  soul,  but  as  Romish  priests  condescend  to  per- 
mit him  1     Its  sole  design  is  to  arrest  the  progress  of  knowledge. 


APPENDIX.  355 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  Index,  I  shall  quote  a  specimen  of  the  manner,  in  which 
Rome  treats  her  sainted  fathers.  I  copy  out  of  Solo  Major's  Spanish  Index  Expur- 
gatonus,  of  A.  D.  16G7.  Tlie  Inquisiiors  direct,  in  p.  .52,  an  expurgation  of  St.  Atha- 
nasius,  by  stril^ing  out  the  following  doctrines  of  tliat  father.  "  God  alone  is  to  be 
adored.  Angels  are  not  to  be  adored.  Christ  alone  is  to  be  adored.  The  body  of 
Christ  is  not  corporeal  food,  but  spriritual.  No  creature  is  to  be  adored:  for  that  is 
to  follow  the  Arians,  and  the  heathens.  The  sacred  scriptures  are  in  themselves 
sufficient  for  the  discoveries  of  truth."     Let  these  be  stricken  out. 

In  p.  p.  5Gand  57,  we  find  St.  Augustine  put  into  the  crucible  to  be  expurgated  of 
certain  doctrines,  offensive  to  Rome.  And  hence,  the  scandalous  deception  of  our 
priests,  who  affect  to  be  amazed  that  we  should  cpiote  these  doctrines  out  of  this  father 
after  he  had,  by  these  doctors,  been  purged  of  them.  The  following  are  some  of 
them. — "  Why  angels,  or  just  men  refuse  to  be  adored.  We  do  not  raise  temples  to 
them.  The  superstitious  abstinence  from  Jlesh.  \Vhat  Christ  said  about  eating  his 
ffesh  is  spiritually  understood.  In  Augustine's  time,  no  one  set  himself  up  for  bishop 
of  bishops.  Two  sacraments  flowed  from  the  side  of  Christ.  Works  necessarily 
follow  faith.  Before  God  we  are  justijied  by  faith.  The  use  of  images  is  prohibited. 
The  book  of  Maccabees  is  apocryphal.  See  p.  58.  The  saints  are  to  be  loved,  and 
imitated,  not  worshipped.  It  is  a  sin  to  place  the  image  of  God  in  churches."  p.  59. 
These  precious  doctrines  are  ordered  by  the  pope  to  be  expunged.  And  thi*  being 
declared  by  their  master,  the  priests  have,  thence,  the  audacity  to  affirm  that  St.  Au- 
gustine never  taught  them  !  ! 

Under  the  head  of  St.  Chrysostom,  the  following  words,  of  this  father,  namely, — 
"  Priests  are  subjected  Jo  princts,''  are  made  to  suffer  papal  expulsion.  Seep.  703. — 
To  this  I  add  the  Inquisitor's  damnatory  sentence  on  Lewis  Vives,  who  had  taught 
that  the  king's  power  and  majesty  is  inferior  only  to  God  on  earth.  This  in  p.  65,  is 
ordered  to  be  "  exj)urgated." — As  the  best  book  on  the  subject,  1  refer  to  Mendham's 
Literary  policy  of  the  church  of  Rome,  exhibited  in  an  account  of  the  damnatory  cata- 
logues, or  Indices,  both  Prohibitory,  and  Expurgatory.  Lond.  1320.  And  to  the 
Lo7id.  Prut.  Journ.  for  3832,  p.  p.  781,  782. 

V.  Confession. 

Tlie  form  of  a  Roman  catholic's  confession  at  the  feet  of  the  priest.  "I  confess  to 
Almighty  God;  to  the  blessed  Mary,  ever  Virgin  :  to  blessed  Michael  the  archangel; 
to  blessed  John  Baptist:  to  St.  Peter,  and  St.  Paul;  to  all  the  Saints,  and  to  you  r 
father,  that  I  have  sinned  exceedingly  in  thought,  in  word,  in  deed,  &c.  &c,  See 
Ordinary  of  the  Mass. — Thus,  we  see,  the  victim  of  this  imposture,  is  made  to  con- 
fess to  the  "dead  men,  and  dead  women,"  called  saints,  and  to  the  priest,  just  as  he 
does  to  Almighty  God  I 

VL     Absolution. — See  Letter  xii.  p.  220, 

It  is  usually  said  by  many  Protestants,  and  by  all  Roman  catholics,  that  the 
priests  do  not  pretend  to  pardon  sin  in  granting  absolution  r  but  that  they  simply 
declare  sin  to  be  remitted  to  the  penitent,  by  God.  I  shall  quote  a  document,  and 
leave  the  reader  to  decide  how  far  ignorance  and  in)j.>osture  have  propagated  thit> 
sentiment.  Here  are  the  words  of  the  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  which,  as 
every  priest  knows,  is  of  more  authority  in  Rome,  than  the  Bible.  '■'Si  quis  dixerit, 
^c.  If  any  one  shall  say  that  the  sacramental  absolution  of  the  priest  is  not  a  judi- 
cial act,  but  a  naked  ministry  of  pronouncing  and  declaring  that  sins  are  remitted  to 
the  person  confessing,  provided  only  that  he  believes,  &c.  let  him  be  accursed." 
Hence  it  is  not  simply  a  declaratory,  hut  formal  arid  judicial  act  of  the  priest,  sitting 
as  judge;  and  in  Christ's  stead,  uttering  the  sentence  of  pardon  to  the  victims  of  his 


INDEX 


Absolution, — God  only  pardons  sin,  92;  refn- 
tation  of,  2] P. 

Allix's  defence  of  flie  Waldonses,  27. 

Ambrose,  defendrd  .i^ainst  Dr.  Varela,  80;  is 
no  idolater,  80.  81;  on  the  succession,  210; 
on  images,  113;  on  prayers  in  unknown 
tonjriies,  216:  against  absolution,  222: — 
against  the  popish  rule,  225 ;  and  transub- 
stantiation,  237;  and  purgatory.  257. 

Anecdotes, — of  a  horse  and  the  host,  115;  of 
bees  and  the  host,  143;  of  the  souls  in  form 
of  Crabs  in  velvet,  143;  of  a  popish  maniac 
exorcised,  144:  of  St.  Peter's  chair,  144; 
of  a»i  ignorant  priest,  14S;  of  a  priest  and  a 
Dutch  Dominie,  180;  of  a  candid  cardinal 
and  his  chaplain,  243;  of  the  Jesuit  who 
could  not  even  with  the  help  of  the  devil. 
find  a  text  to  support  purgatorv,  249;  of 
a  priest  and  a  noMeman.  251 ;  of  prie 
Thoni,  and  a  poor  widow,  252  ;  of  the  chief 
of  the  house  of  Gordon.  277;  of  the  vicar 
of  Croydon  preaching  against  printing,  330  ; 
of  a  young  medical  student  at  the  confes- 
sional, 331. 

Anthony  St.  miracle  of,  107. 

Antiquity,  whether  a  mark  of  the  truth  of  the 
Romish  church,  150. 

Apocrypha,  not  belonging  to  the  sacred  canon, 
38;  refutation  of  its  claims,  229. 

Aquinas,  St.  Thomas,  on  prayers  in  unknown 
tongues,  216. 

Archbishop,  anecdote  of  an  Italian,  84. 

Arian  cobler,  63;  origin  and  exposure  of  this 
popish  sophism.  76. 

Aristotle's  absurdities  employed  by  papists  on 
transn!)stnnfiation,  235. 

Ass,  feast  of  the  song  sung  to  it  by  the 
priests,  140,  141. 

Athanasius,  on  the  rule  of  faith  74,225;  on 
images  113;  on  saint  and  angel  worship. 
214;  on  the  npocryi>ha,  230  on  transub- 
staritiation,  237;  on  purgatory   258. 

Attributes  of  |>o|)erv. — impurity,  321  ;  impiety 
and  arro(Tince,  322;  treachery,  325;  intole- 
rance, 321;  cruelty,  332. 

Auction  for  souls,  at  Irish  funerals,  what,  252. 

Augustine,  a-zainst  tho  po!>is!i  rule  of  faith, 
72,  22^;  defended  from  Dr.  Varela's  quota- 
tions, 81;  on   papal  supremacy,  94;  saint 


worship,  96,  214  ;  against  retaining  the 
scriptures  in  a  dead  tongue,  99;  on  "the 
Rock,"  206;  on  images,  213:  on  prayers  in 
an  unknown  tongue,  216;  on  the  worship 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  218;  on  the  pardon  and 
absolution  ofsins,  by  the  priests,  222  ;  on  the 
apocrypha  not  being  canonical.  230;  against 
transubstantiation,  239;  and  the  mass,  245; 
and  purgatory,  258, 

Auricular  confession,  originated  by  fanaticism, 
113  ;  a  novelty,  152. 

Authority  of  the  church  of  Rome,  not  the 
cause  of  the  Bible's  aut'iority.  30. 

Auto  da  Fe,  description  of  a  Spanish,  338. 


B 


Baptism,  not  established  by  tradition  only,  68. 

Barnabas'  epistle,  62. 

Baronius,  on  the  wickedness  of  the  popes,  37, 
33. 

Basil,  against  absolution,  223;  and  the  popish 
rule  of  faith,  226;  and  purgatory,  257. 

Becket,  Tliomas  a.  more  ho?ior  paid  to  this 
saint,  than  to  Christ.  123,  279. 

Bellarrnine,  on  papal  supremacy.  43,  44,  75, 
83,89:  on  the  rule  <if  faith,  75;  on  the  suc- 
cession, 111;  he  taught  the  supremacy  of 
spiritual  power  over  civil  governments  in 
/cm/7or<// things,  313  ;  his  atn)cious  defence 
of  perserutioti,  and  extermination  by  fire 
and  sword.  343. 

Bells,  popish  baptism  of,  136. 

Bernard,  St.  against  transubstantiation,  239  ; 
and  the  mass,  245. 

Bible,  see  Scriptures. 

Bislmp.  every  Roman  prelate  is  bound  by  hia 
oath  to  prrscrute,    344. 

Blasphemies  of  popery,  specimens  of,  44,  46, 
79. 

Bolsec,  the  priests  quote  this  infamous  man 
against  the  Reformers,  15.26. 

Bonavpufure,  St.  a  singular  blaspheming  fa- 
natic. 97. 

Brunswick,  the  old  Duke  of.  his  curious  bar 
gain  with  the  Roini-^h  priest"*,  for  the  lift 
insurance  of  his  soul,  9,  14.  139. 

Bullinjer.  quotation  frotn,  vindicated.  24. 

Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints,  monstrous  inira> 
cles  in,  142. 


358 


INDEX. 


Call  to  the  ministry,  Roman  priests  know  not 
even  the  meaning  of  it,  47. 

Calvin,  vindication  of,  from  popish  slanders, 
25;  case  of  Servetus,  papists  enacted  the 
laws,  under  which  he  suft'ered,  341. 

Canon,  council  of  Cartilage  on  tlie,  38;  de- 
claring the  apocrypha  not  of  the  canon,  38; 
no  canonical  book  lost,  61  ;  priests  absurd- 
ly insist  that  the  Bible  should  do  that  by  in- 
ternal evidence,  which  can  be  done  only  by 
external  evidence,  in  reference  to  its  canoni- 
city,  78;  the  Greek  chvn-ch  cudgelled  the 
church  of  Rome  into  orthodoxy,  respecting 
the  canon,  119.       , 

Canonizing,  power  of,  106. 

Card  well  refutes  Curtis  on  his  charge  of  er- 
rors in  the  English  version,  79,  89,  90. 

Catholic  church  of  Christ  very  different  from 
the  Roman  catholic  church  of  the  pope,  24. 

Cat)iolicity,  on  the  claims  of  the  popish  church 
to  this  attribute,  153. 

Celibacy  of  priests  and  nuns,  a  novelty,  98; 
it  originates  infinite  licentiousness  in  the 
Romish  church,  186. 

Chancery  book  of  the  pope,  tariff  prices  of 
sin,  45;  Appendix  II. 

Chair  of  St.  Peter,  ludicrous  anecdote  of  the, 
144. 

Charles  V.  the  emperor  a  tool  of  Clement 
VII,  328;  his  noble  answer  in  the  case  of 
Luther,  328. 

Chastity;  its  meaning  among   popish 
321. 

Chillingworth  on   the  rule   of  faith, 
19,  38. 

Christians,   number  of,    compared   to 
papists,  201,  202  ;   and  Appendix  I. 

Chrysostom  St..  on  "prophetic  i-emains,"  61  ; 
on  the  rule  of  faith,  74,  227  ;  against  the  in- 
vocation of  saints,  96;  on  the  text  of  "  the 
Rock,"  209;  against  absolution  by  priests, 
222  ;  and  transubstantiation  239  ;  and  the 
mass,  245  ;  and  purgatory,  258. 

Church  of  God,  never  cutoff,  42;  not  always 
visible, — not  visible  in  Israel  in  Ahab'stinie, 
42;  doctrinal  marks  of,  91 ;  separate  from 
the  state  always  when  in  her  purest  condi- 
tion, 92. 

Circle,  the  vicious,  the  priests  resort  to  this 
form  of  false  logic,  58,  64. 

Civil  power,  over  magistrates,  and  temporal 
things,  claimed  by  popes.  44. 

Clemens  Alex,  condemns  absolution  by  priests, 
223;  against  transubstantiation,  238;  and 
the  mass,  246. 

Conclave  of  cardinals  choose  two  popes  at  the 
same  time,  165. 

Confessional,  immoral  influence  of,  on  the 
minds  of  priests,  129;  and  on  servants, 
129,130. 

Conscience,  liberty  of,  9;  papists  deny  this 
liberty,  9,  30,  43,  76;  their  disingenuous 
quanner  of  replying  to   this  charge  ;    they 


call  it  "  our  interior  spirit,"  "private  spirit," 
15;  their  system  necessarily  opposed  to  this 
liberty,  43 ;  God  the  only  Lord  of  the  con- 
science, 92  ;  papal  usurpations  <m  it,  122. 

Conversion  of  three  Romish  priests,  241. 

Conversion,  papal,  what  it  is,  81  ;  evangelical 
conversion,  not  admitted  on  popish  princi- 
ples, 81. 

Corpus  Christi,  festival  of,  originated  by  gross 
fanaticism,  114. 

Councils',  and  popes'  power,  19,  20:  two 
councils  quoted  against  purgatory,  259. 

Crabs  in  velvet,  souls  coming  out  of  purgatory 
in  the  form  of,  143,  144. 

Creed  of  Protestants,  priests'  opinion  of,  78  ; 
in  scripture  texts,  146. 

Cross,  the  wood  of,  worshipped  by  papists, 
139;  farther  proof  and  specimens,  282. 

Croydon,  vicar  of,  his  saying  about  printing, 
330. 

Crusades,  two  kinds  of,  340;  specimens  of, 
341. 

Cup,  or  wine,  abstraction  of,  in  the  eucharist, 
a  popish  novelty,  99. 

Curse,  specimens  of  the  papal,  342. 

Curtis'  collection  of  errors  in  the  English 
Bible,  79,  89;  Cardwell  in  reply,  89,  90. 

Cyprian  against  the  apocrypha,  230;  and 
transubstantiation,  237  ;  and  purgatory,  256. 

Cyril, — against  absolution.  223;  against  the 
popish  rule  of  faith,  226;  and  the  apocrypha, 
230;  and  transubstantiation,  238;  and  pur- 
gatory, 257,  258. 


priests 
quoted 
that  of 


Damasus,  against  the  mass,  245. 
Damnation,  power  of,  claimed  by  popes,  323, 

324. 
David,   St.   of  Scotland,    popish  miracle   by, 

109. 
Deism  of  N.  Y.  priests  proved,  10,  12,  34,  54, 

59,  60,  76. 
Deists, — necessary  tendency  of  popery  to  pro- 

duce^agoid  increase  them,  90,  225. 
Demons,  doctrine  of,  in  the  Romish   church, 

324. 
Despotism  essential  to   the  genius  of  popery, 

17,  306.  320,  322. 
Devil, — Luther  a  pupil  of  the,  refuted,  25. 
Divisions  of    Protestants,   one   real  cause   of 

their    apparently    greater   number,  5;    the 

divisions  of  papists,  excessive,  5,  15. 
Doctrinal  contradictions  of  popery.  285, 
Doctrinal  marks  of  the  true  church  of  Christ, 

91,-93. 
Doctrines  and  rites  of  popery,   originated   by 

fanaticism,  110  ;  popery   at  open  war  with 

Bible  doctrines ;    285,  2S6,  293. 
Douay  translation,  its  glaring  errors,  71;  not 

authorised  by  the  pope,  or   "church,"  88; 

122;  the  priests'  lame  and  Jesuitical  defence 

ofit.  133,  134. 
Duke  of   Brunswick's   curious   bargain  with 

the  priests  about  the  insurance  of  his  soul's 

life,  9,  14,  139. 


INDEX, 


359 


Grace,  doctrines  of,  in  the  Romish  church, 
82;  Trent  fathers  on  them,  82,  83. 

Gregory,  tlie  saint,  and  pope,  against  papal 
su|)reniacy,  95;  on  succession,  110;  con- 
demns penance  and  absolution  223;  and 
the  mass,  245. 

Gregory,  po})e,  "the  hell  brand,'^  an  ultra  on 
supremacy,  82. 

Gregory  IS'azianzen,  against  purgatory,  257. 

Gregory  Nysscn,  against  saint  invocation,  96; 
against  purgatory,  257. 

Gregory  XVI.  the  present  pope,  an  idolatrous 
worshipper  of  Mary,  97. 

H 

Hampton  conference,  speeches  there  against 
"  translations  of  the  Bible,"  79,  exposure  of 
tliis,  89. 
Hebrew  and  Greek  of  I'le  Holy  Ghost,  always 
ridiculed    by    the    priests,    28,   48,    50,  51, 
77,  reason  of  it,  84,  100. 
Hebrews   not  witliout  the  written  rule  for  14 
generations.  59. 
Faith,  new  articles  of,  power  of  the  pope  to'Hebrew  text,  reply  to  the  priests'  injurious  re- 
enact,  83,  twelve  new  articles  added,  83,  85.1     flections  on  ilie,  72. 
Faith    of  Roman    catholics   what?     33,    34,  Herbert,  Lord,  a  fanatical  deist,  104. 

contradicted  by  express  texts,  148,  carbona- Heretic,  definition  of,   at  the  priests  call,   16. 
rian  faith,  182. 
Faith  of  God,  no  foundation  for  it  in  popery, 


Dutch  christians  of  Holland,    RufTerings  and 
massacres  of,  346,  347 


F>ng1and,  Dr.,  notice  of  his  late  book  on  po- 
pish ceremonies;  his  Jesuitism  and  false- 
hood exposed,  315,  316;  he  contradicts  in 
his  book  the  words  of  a  ])apal  Bull,  316. 

Englisli  version  of  the  Bible,  the  papists  have 
no  authorised  one,  72. 

Epiphanius  against  saint  invocation,  96, — 
against  the  worship  of  Mary,  218,  against 
purgatory,  259. 

Eusebius,  against  transubstantiation,  238. 

Excommunication  of  vermin,  142  ;  annual  ex- 
comnuiiiication  and  cursing  of  Protestants 
by  papists,  315,  342. 

Exorcism  of  a  demoniac  pretended,  an  anec- 
dote, 144. 


Fair  sex  of  Spain,  and  Romish  priests,  aneC' 
dote  of,  189. 


284  i  the  popish  doctrine   of  Intention    re 
ders  faith,  and   hope,  and  salvation    utterly 
uncertain  to  thetn,  297,  301. 

Fanaticism  of  the  Romish   church,  15,    105, 
106.108,113. 

Fathers  uiia:iimous  consent  of,    not   in  exis- 
tence, 11,  proof  of  this,  72,  73. 

Field,  Dr.,  Vindication  of,  from  popish  quota- 
tions. 24. 

Francis,  St.  miracles  ascribed  to  him,  108. 

French  christians,  sufferinjrs  and  massacres  of 
them,  346. 

G 


Heretics,  no  faith  to  be  kept  with,  a  regular 
popish  dogma,  proof,  326  ;  specimens,  327, 
329. 

Hilary,  on  the  succession  and  "The  Rock," 
110;  condemns  absolution,  2'23;  against 
the  popish  rule  of  faitli,  226;  against  tran- 
subst.'uitiation,  237;   against  purgatory,  256. 

Holiness,  succession  of  Rome  cut  oft"  by  the 
loss  of.  161, — But  ]io|)ish  holiness  is  con- 
veyed by  the  most  atrocious  of  men,  164, — 
their  ideas  of  it,  184. 

Holy  ]\Iother  church, — the  priests  cannot  even 
agree  in  telling  us  what  it  is,   11,  'i'.^. 

Holy  Water,  origin  of,  137;  in  popery  it 
takes  the  place  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  323. 

Hooker,  vindication  of  him  from  popish  quo- 
tations, 24,  38. 

Horse,  devoutly  irorships  the  mass,  a  popish 
miracle,  115. 

Hnss,  a  martyr  of  Christ,  by  the  popish  dog- 
ma, "  keep  no  faith  with  heretics,"  166,  328. 


Galileo's  sentence  of  condemnation,  unre- 
pealed by  the  pope,  to  this  day,  301 ;  say- 
ing of  one  of  his  companions,  respecting 
his  judges,  302. 

Gelasiuri,  the  pope,  against  transubstantiation 
237. 

Geiifrntions,  the  14,  textual  difficulty  of,  ii 
Matth.  i.,  s(dved,  66. 

God's  singular  family  group,  according  t( 
popory,  106. 

Gordon,  anecdote  of  the  chief  of  the  house  of, 
277. 

GovrM-nmenls.  civil,  convulsed  by  popery,  287, 
2S'J;  hostility  of  popery  to  liberty,  306. 
dangr-r  to  our  free  institutions  from  its  pre- 
sent conspiracy  against  our  re|)ublic,   306. |  ,  ^  , 

307,30^;    Bellarmine  and  other  writers   on  ImnH)rality    of   popery,   45;     the     mother   of 
the  snhjertiou  of  civil  powers  to  the  spiritn-      deism  aiid  vice,  286,  267;  full  exposure  of 
al,  313:  farther    shown    from    the  bishops',      this,  288,  321. 
and  priests'  oath  to  the  pope,  318,  322.  llmpostures  of  popery,  105,  142. 


Iddo,  hook  of,  noticed,  61. 
Idolatry  of  popery,  106.  see  images. 
Ignatius  against  transubstantiation,  237. 
Images  condemned  by  councils,  81,  82; 
use    a   novelty  in   the   christian  world 


heir 
98; 
212. 


condemned  by  scrlpt)n-e  and  the  father; 
213,  274,  277,  283;  three  factions  in  Rome 
respecting  images,  278. 
f   popery 


360 


INDEX. 


In  ccp.na  Domini,  analysis  of  this  bull,  317 

Index  Expurgatorius,  one  of  the  mighty  wea- 
pons of  papal  power,  333. 

Indulgences,  sources  of  wealth  to  the  Romish 
priesthood,  222. 

Infallibility, — the  papists  cannot  agree  in  de- 
ciding where  it  lies,  39,  32,  75,  b9 ;  it  has 
not  settled  any  divisions  in  the  R.  C.  church, 
11,  21,  46;  ludicrous  error  of  our  priests  on 


Jesuits, — maxims  and  practices  of,  85,  87, 12&^ 
130.  197;  character  of,  131;  a  solemn  ap' 
peal  and  warning  against  their  present  con' 
spiracy,  319;  then-  secret  oath  by  which 
they  are  banded  together,  copy  of  it,  329. 

Joan,  the  pope,  62. 

John  the  apostle  ;  the  popish  doctrine  of  suc' 
cession  and  supremacy,  load  him  with  con- 
tempt and  inso,ence,  93. 


this;  they  assert,  rejieatedly,  that  the  use  of  Jones'  delence  of  the  character  and  doctrines 

their  infallible  rule  of  faith,  makes  those  in-      of  the  Waldenses,  27. 

fallible  who   use   it,  14,60,   d4,   103;  their  Judas, — a   part  of   the    rope  with    which   he 

leading  maxim  is,  that  the  promise  of  infal-      hanged  himself,  among  ^' the  holy  relics"  at 

libility   is  made  by  Christ,  to  oral  teaching,!     Rome,  107. 

not  icrilten  inspiration,  34;    infallibility,  and  Judge  of  controversy,  the  Holy  Ghost,  speak- 


their  dogma  ot' intention  irreconcilable,  48; 
their  vicious  circle  on  this,  121 ;  Bellarinine 
doctrine  on  this,  323. 

Inquisition,  332  ;  this  grows  out  of  the  very 
nature  and  aim  of  popery,  which  tlirives 
only  by  despotism,  333;  definition  of  333, 
334;  liistory  of  its  rise  and  progress,  334; 
some  countries  never  submitled  to  it,  335; 
Inquisitorial  law,  curious  origin  of  it,  335 
Inquisitor,  definition  of  an,  335;  picture  of 
— 336;  the  interior,  337;  various  tortures, 
337,  340 ;  number  of  those  who  perished  by 
it  in  Spain,  340. 

Intention,  papal  doctrine  of,  fatal  to  their 
priests,  and  their  rites,  48;  it  bids  defiance 
to  their  infallibility,  48;  striking  t^pecimen 
of  Jesuitism  in  defending,  and  covering  it, 
50.  76;  an  examination  of  its  fatal  eiiects 
on  the  whole  system  of  popery,  297,  301. 

Internal  evidence  of  the  Bible  confounded  by 
priests,  icith  external,  78:  and  passim. 


Intol( 

popery,  329 

Irenssus  against  transubstantiation,  237. 

Italic,  old,  version  of,  older  than  Jerome's,  or 
the  Vulgate,  69. 

Irish  catholics,  an  earnest  appeal  to  them,  on  the 
novelty  of  jiopery,  and  in  behalf  of  the  an- 
cient and  primitive  religion  of  their  original 
ancestors  in  Ireland,  232. 


James,  Df.  his  Bellum  Papain,  87. 

Januarius,  St.  the  annual  miracle  of  melting 
his  blood,  at  Naples,  143. 

Jasher,  the  book  of,  noticed,  61. 

Jerome, — 'his  Latin  version  of  the  Scriptures 
altered  in  the  Vulgate,  69,  70;  Jerome  quo 
ted  on  the  popish  rule  of  faith,  73  228;  on 
the  Latin  Version,  88;  against  papal  supre- 
macy, 94;  on  the  text  of  "the  Rock,"  and 
succession,  207, 209 ;  he  condemns  penance, 
and  absolution,  222;  against  tlie  apocrypha, 
230;  and  transubstantiation,  239;  and  the 
mass,  244  ;  and  purgatory,  2-58. 

Jerome  of  Prague,  a  n)artyr  of  Christ,  by  po- 
pish treachery,  116,  328. 

Jesuitism,  instances  of  in  N.  Y.  priests,  50,  59, 
85,  87  ;  its  spirit,  169,  197. 


ing  in  the  Word,  3 ;  passim  in  the  Letters  ii. 

iii.  iv.  v. 
Judgment,   rights   of   each  person's  private, 

ridiculed  by  priestly  intolerance  as  "■  the  in- 

terior  spirit,"  15,  43. 
Justin  Martyr,  against  transubstantiation,  238  j 

and  the  mass,  245  ;  and  purgator^^  256,  257. 


K 


Kettle,    anecdote  of  the  copper,  and  Patrick 

O.  B.,  32. 
Kings  of  Europe,  have,  for  generations,  been 

'the  pope's  hangmen,"  334. 
Knox,  John,  ludicrous  slander  of,  by  the   pa- 

pists.  26, 


Lactantius,  on  images,  213  ;  against  the  mass, 
246;  against  purgatory,  256. 


one    of  the   grand   attributes   of  Laity,  treated  by  the  Romish  priests  with  in- 


solence and  contempt,  57. 

Laodicean  council  afrainst  the  apocrypha^ 
231 ;  vindication  of  die,  231. 

Latin  prayers  condemned  by  scripture  and  the 
f  ithers,  214,  215  ;  and  by  Cajetan,  216. 

Learning,  hoitilify  to  it,  an  essential  element 
of  poperv,  301 ;  specimens  of  its  retaining 
the  sentiments  of  the  Dark  Ages,  on  common 
se-ience,  301  ;  its  ludicrous  condemnation  of 
Bi%hf)p  Virgil  f(»r  believing  in  antipodes; 
and  Galileo,  for  believing  in  our  doctrine  of 
the  aolar  system,  301,  302, 

Leo  X.,  the  pope,  claimed  power  to  enact  new 
articles  of  faith,  S3. 

Levins,  Mr  ,  his  peculiar  taste  for  the  low,  dis- 
gusting, and  ribaldrous,  specimens,  28,  30, 
31,86;  his  cowardly  insolence  in  insulting 
ladies,  86,  87.  &c.  ;  specimen  of  his  blas- 
phemy, 79,  90;  calls  Dr.  B.  his  opponent 
Ai.iAR,  147;  his  appropriate  prototype,  an 
officer  of  the  court  of  the  king  of  Assyria, 
171 ;  the  epitaph,  172. 

Liberality,  and  toleration  of  sentiment  never 
known  in  the  Romish  church,  313;  not  al- 
lowed on  Roman  catholic  principles,  proof, 
344,  345. 

Liberty,  the  genius  of  popery  is  in  deadly 
hostility   to,  47,   77;    pure  Christianity  th* 


ryoEA'- 


piircnt  and  luiise  of  true  liberty,  9;^  ;  an  ap- 
peal to  Roman  catholic  laymen  on  this, 
178,193.^ 

Liturgies  of  the  Oriental  churches  oppoaed  to 
transubstantiation,  240. 

Logic, — curious  specimens  of  Romish  logic, 
34,  85;  N.  Y.  ])ric.sts  emi)loy  as  an  arj^^ument 
against  the  divine  rule  of  faith,  the  abuse  of 
it  by  evil  men,  76  ;  specimen  of  their  logic 
on  their  church's  antiquity,  150;  in  their 
claims  to  catholicity,  154. 

Lutlier's  character  vindicated  from  the  slang 
of  our  priests,  24,  25,  119;  anecdote  of  him 
and  an  ignorant  priest,  148. 


i\r 


Magistrates,  pa])i3t  contempt  of,  322.  In  Eu- 
rope they  were,  for  centuries,  the  pope's 
'•  spies  and  hangmen,"  334. 

■Man  of  Sin,  a  peculiar  title  of  the  Romish  hie- 
rarchy, 321,  323,  325. 

Marcellinus,  the  pope,  an  idolater,  75. 

Marks  of  their  church  claimed  by  papists,  a7i- 
tiquity,  150.     See  Catholicity,  8fc. 

Marry,  forbidding  to,  peculiar  attribute  of  the 
popish  apo Stacy,  324. 

Mary.     See  Virgin. 

Mary  St.  a  torturing  machine  of  papists,  333. 

Mass,  a  substitute  for  our  Lord's  atonement. 
81  ;  a  mere  novelty,  98 ;  it  was  originated 
by  fanaticism,  114;  worshipped  by  a  horse, 
a  popish  miracle,  115;  superstition  of  it, 
136;  bees  worshipping  it,  143;  full  exa- 
mination of  it,  refutation, — by  reason,  242; 
by  Scripture,  243  ;  by  the  fathers,  244  ;  rea- 
sons why  popish  priests  cling  to  this  grand 
invention,  as  their  last  hope,  246  ;  various 
convenient  masses,  247  ;  picture  of  a  high 
mass  inpontijicalihus,  2G8. 

Matrimony,  thrown  into  confusion  among  pa- 
pists bv  the  priests'  doctrine  of  Intention, 
300. 

Maxim,  a  useful  one  in  controversy,  13. 

Meats  in  lent,  138  ;  allowed  lately  to  be  eaten 
on  Saturdays,  224;  forbidden  by  popery, 
324. 

Middleton  quoted  on  the  pagan  origin  of  po- 
pish rites,  264,  268. 

Miracles,  popisli,  106,  107,  108,  109.  115. 

Misquotations  and  textual  perversittiis  by  pa- 
pists, instances  of,  14,  in  reference  to  2 
Pet.  i.  20;  and  our  rule  of  faitli.  54.  58, — 
in  reference  to  2  Peter  iii.  Id,  ''  hard  to  be 
understood,"  57,  glaring  instance  of,  95.      i 

Misrepresentations,  75.  76,  of  Dr.  Curtis  andl 
priests,  79,  specimen  of,  102. 

Molina's  works  noticed,  code  of  Jesuitism. 
183,  and  263. 

Monkish  orders,  seven  of  them,  founded  l)y 
fanatics,  111, — they  cause  distractions,  204. 

Moralij,  Popish,  129,  infamous  maxims  on, 
130.  194— 199,— quotations,  263. 

Mortmain  law  of  England,  cause  and  origin 
of.  24G. 


MoratR  OF  God,  a  natnc  of  blasphemy,  96, 
97.  103  ;  this  involves  the  Eutychian  heresy, 
105.  Epiphanius  and  Augustine  on  this,  218. 


N 


Nathan,  book  of,  noticed,  61. 
Nuzarene,  Christ  called  a,  67. 
ISicholas,    Dr.    Melchior,    his   vindication   of 
Luther,  noticed,  2.5. 


O 


Oath  of  Jesuits,  and  papists,  not  to  be  relied 
on,  326;  their  ow)i  secret  oalh,  329. 

Oath  taken  by  Roman  catholic  priests,  and 
bishops,  318. 

Objections  and  misstatements  of  priests,  ex- 
amined, see  Letter  VI.  part  i.  55. 

Odor  of  sanctity,  popish  meaning  of,  107. 

Oral  instruction  not  to  be  separated,  as  the 
priests  insist,  from  the  use  of  the  Scriptures, 
68. 

Ordination,  and  episcopal  consecration,  no 
Romish  priest  can  prove  his,  47,  48. 

Origen,  quoted,  209 ;  on  prayers  in  an  un- 
known tongue,  216;  against  the  Roman 
catholic  rule  of  faith,  227 ;  and  the  apocry- 
pha, 230;  and  transubstantiation  p.  239. 


Pagan  origin  of  popish  rites,  106,  137.  264 — 
268  ;  pagans  outdone  by  papists  331. 

Parents,  appeal  to,  on  Jesuit  seminaries,  192. 

Patrick,  St.  miracles  of,  108,  109,  defence  of 
him  from  popish  legends,  7iote,  139,  232. 

Paul,  F.  his  saying  of  the  Trentine  fathers, 
85. 

Penance,  superstition  of,  133,  impiety  and 
deism  of  it,  221 ;  source  of  wealth,  222. 

Persecution,  essential  to  popery,  127  ;  difter- 
ent  kinds,  340;  it  is  a  dogma  of  popery  to 
persecute, — it  is  enacted  by  its  councils, 
and  advocated  by  its  doctors,  342 — proofs, 
343,  344 ;  each  bishop  is  sicorn  in  to  per- 
secute, 344 ;  specimens  of  massacres 
and  persecutions,  345,  348;  numbers  killed, 
347. 

PKTK.n,  2.  Epist.  of,  ch.  1.  20;  perversion  of 
by  Romanists,  14. 

Peter,  whether  at  Rome,  no  pope,  160;  para- 
ble of  him,  173,  spirit  of  anticlirist  shown, 
174,  178. 

Pius  ii.  the  pope,  ^f^neas  Sylvius,  quoted, 
75,  159. 

Pix,  or  box  containing  ^A«  xoafcr  god,  curious 
pagan  origin  of,  266. 

Pollution  an  essential  element  in  popery,  289. 

Pontifical  and  priestly  arrogance,  wielding 
the  power  "  to  damn,"  17. 

Pontifical  high  mass,  curious  picture  of  this 
theatrical  show,  268. 

Pope,  the  pontifex  maximus  ;  the  lord  god  in 
the   Roman   church,   19,   41;  his  tempora) 


INDF.X. 


power  aftected  to  be  disowned  by  AmericanI 
Roman  catholics.  20  ;  he  7nust  be  in  fact,i 
a  ffod,  if  he  do  what  the  Roman  catholic; 
rule  of  faith  requires  him  to  do.  22;  papal! 
succession  cut  otf,  36;  wicked  popes,  36.  i 
37,  45;  the  pope  appoints  new  articles  ofj 
faith,  43,  63 ;  the  names  of  our  Lord  arro-l 
gantly  given  to  him,  43,  44;  he  calls  him-| 
self  "  God,"  44,  323:  specimens  of  the. 
character  of  popes,  45,  46;  "a  god  upon' 
earth."  he  pardons  sins  ;  niakep  new  gods, 
or  saints ;  and  thus  adds  to  the  niunber  of 
the  objects  of  worship,  56,-57;  pope  Joan, 
62;  the  pope  made  by  papists  "^ pater  fa- 
viiliasy  in  the  place  of  Christ,  83,  89:  spe-j 
cimen  of  atrocious  popes,  and  yet  vicars  of 
God,  162,  163;  frightful  scenes  at  Rome,  by 
the  conduct  of  popes,  163;  three  antipopes 
uniting  to  make  a  barter  of  the  church,  165  ; 
worse  than  any  civil  tyrant  in  any  land, 
167 ;  a  pope's  idolatrous  prayer  at  the  co7i- 
>?ecration  of  images,  280;  they  bring  alii 
things,  for  sale,  into  market,  for  money, j 
290;  the  adoration  of  the  pope  at  his  eiec-! 
tion,  323;  a  pope's  public  rejoicings  on  ac-| 
count  of  the  French  massacres  of  the| 
Huguenots,  347. 
Popery,  it  labours  to  conceal,  in  our  land 
its  real  tenets,  40 ;  its  genius  strictly  mo 
narchical,  and  despotic,  41 ;  its  hostility  to 
the  freedom  of  the  people,  and  to  republics, 
41,  195 ;  its  spirit  and  doctrines  the  same, 
now,  unchanged,  as  in  the  Dark  Ages,  41, 
126;  its  nature,  and  atheism,  44,  123,  127; 
its  revolting  immoralitv,  45, 188, 189 ;  the  no- 
velty of  its  essential  doctrines  and  rites,  91 ; 
it  is  a  system  of  forgeries  and  novel  inven- 
tions; proof.  Letter  viii.  part  i.,  87,  93,  187, 
232  ;  its  dogmas,  and  rites  originated  in  fa- 
naticism, 105. 115;  family  gronp  of  its  gods, 
106 ;  it  peoples  the  world  with  saint-idols, 
even  as  tlie  pagans  did  it,  with  hero-idols. 
106;  ottices  of  its  idols,  106  ;  it  has  lost  the 
spirit  of  Christianity,  126  ;  it  claims  the  pow- 
er of  "  damning"  its  enemies,  128;  the 
vices  and  ignorance  of  its  votaries,  128; 
the  marks  and  notes  of  its  church,  149 ;  its 
passport  given,  for  the  usual  consideration, 
to  any  dying  man,  to  heaven,  149,  150;  its 
images,  152  ;  a  three  headed  monster  in  it, 
■which  cut  off  its  succession,  164  ;  it  never 
reforms,  never  improves,  on  its  own  avowal 
191;  it  is  a  very  broken,  divided,  and  dis-} 
tracted  sect,  202,  203,  205;  its  claims  to! 
pardon  sin,  and  absolve,  refuted,  218;  it  i?| 
a  system  of  pious  frauds  to  plunder  nations' 
successfully;  proof,  Spain,  252,  253;  it?i 
deplorable  moral  condition  in  popish  lands  : 
its  tenets  cause  the  evil  to  wax  worse  and 
worse,  262;  it  is  shown  to  be  perpetuated 
paganism,  254;  proof;  contrast  of  it,  and 
paganism,  2G5;  its  frightful  idolatry,  274,! 
283;  tn'mptoms  and— efements  of  its  ruin,j 
2B4 ;  its  pollution.  289  ,•  it  is  at  war  with 
the  gospel  of  Christ,   o))  es.sential   particu-! 


lars,  proof,  293;  every  doctrine,  rite,  and 
"  efficacy  of  grace"  in  it,  rendered  utterly 
uncertain ;  and  its  whole  system  abortive, 
by  its  extraordinary  doctrine  of  Lntentiok, 
297,  300;  its  essential  attribute  of  despot- 
ism, 306 ;  its  six  ^ran</ attributes  discussed, 
320,  &c. ;  the  number  of  those  who  have 
been  murdered  b}'  it,  347,  348. 

Popish  authors  quoted  relative  to  the  popes, 
37  ;  blunders  of,  about  ordinances,  83. 

Power,  Dr.  solemnly  appealed  to  God  that  he, 
and  the  priests  encouraged  the  reading  of 
the  Bible  in  the  vernacular  tongue, — yet  no 
authori.-ed  version  in  English,  88,  122 ;  his 
lame  defence  of  it,  133;  specimen  of  the 
saints  to  whom  he  prays,  163. 

Precepts,  the  ten  precepts  of  God  repealed, 
practically,  by  popery,  288,  289. 

Predictions,  Romish  priests  fill  up  these,  as 
recorded  in  Scripture,  194. 

Priest  of  a  false  religion,  character  of,  331. 

Priest,  an  office  as  used  among  the  papists, 
unknown  in  the  New  Testament,  47,  48. 

Priesthood,  a  ghostly  aristocracy  and  nobility 
in  popery,  57  ;  impure  by  their  very  office, 
129,  188,  189 ;  its  legal  existence  rendered 
uncertain  bv  their  own  doctrine  of  Inten- 
tion, 297,  300. 

Priests,  of  New-York, — boast  against  our  rule, 
the  Bible,  as  Paine  did,  78,  116;  their  un- 
fairness, 84,85,115,  118;  the  attributes  of 
their  logic,  87;  specimens  of  it,  101;  their 
spirit  indicative  of  popery,  104,  116,  119  i 
they  borrow  all  the  little  they  say,  out  of 
old  Mumford,  and  JMilner,  105,  ct passim; 
their  violence  against  the  holy  Bible,  116,. 
117,  133;  their  unguarded  admission  against 
their  own  saints'  legends,  119;  they  charge 
false  miracles  on  Protestants,  119 ;  two  sin- 
gular admissions  drawn  from  them,  122  ; 
they  aim  at  personal  violence,  131 ;  Dr.  B.'a 
card  on  this,  132;  their  acerbity  of  style, 
133,  147;  they  call  Dr.  B.  "a'/wr,"  147; 
their  aim  utterly  defeated,  148 ;  their  maniac 
logic,  150,  15l';  their  final  Letter,  and  re-^ 
treat,  167. 

Primitive  Christianity  of  Ireland  and  Spain 
before  popery  overran  them,  91,  93,  225. 

Protestant,  and  papist,  contrast  of,  on  an  es- 
sential point,  84;  Protestant  divisions,  reply 
to  charge  of,  84  ;  Protestants'  harmony  in 
doctrine.  153;  contrast  of  the  Protestant 
and  popish  claims  to  have  the  true  faith, 
156;  Protestant  parents  appealed  to  on  Je.^juit 
seminaries,  192;  Protestants  have  persecut- 
ed, instances,  341;  radical  difterence  be- 
tween the  principle  prompting  them,  and 
that  of  the  papists,  341. 

Purgatory,  a  novel  invention,  98,  1.52,250; 
it  was  originated  by  fanatics,  113  ;  the  moot- 
ed question  if  priests  know  who  are  in  it, 
142;  miracle  of  visibly  letting  out  souls,  in 
form  of  mice,  142;  as  crabs  in  velvet,  144; 
anecdote  of  a  priest  who  had  purgatory  in 
his  hou.se,  ISO  ;  it  is  the  temple  ofraannn.5n, 


INDEX- 


248;  curious  remark  of  a  cardinal   about  it.  S 

248;  history  ol'  it, — a  pagan  tiction  import-l 

ed;  neither  the  Jesuit  Cotton,  nor  the  devil, jSabbath,  chance  of,  not  determined  by  tradi- 
could  find   a  text  for  it,  249;  the  eight  dun-{     tiono«/^68. 

geons  in  purgatory  for  rieht  Crt.s.'cs  of  hope- Saints,    invocation  of,  a    noveltv,  95;  origin 
lul  sinners,  2.50;  the  real  use  of  it,  251;      of,  9G  ;  opposed  by  the  fathers,  9G ;    thelj 
Bpecinicn   of  popish   extortion   by  this,  in      '      " 
refutation  of  purpatorv 


Spain,  252;  refutation  of  purpatory, — from 
reason,  and  Scripture,  253;  the  monstrous 
absurdities  of  it,  255  ;  it  sets  out  the  priests 
before  the  public,  as  inhuman  monsters, 
2,56;  conilemned  by  the  best  of  the  fathers, 
256;  by  councils,  259;  has  not  the  unani- 
mous consent,  and  therefore,  wants  even  po- 
pish evidence,  259. 


Quotation.',  unfair  ones,  valuable  maxim  en, 16. 


R 


Rack,  tortures  of  the,  .338. 

Reformation  needt^ul  in  Rome,  200 :  quota- 
tions of  her  writers  urging  it.  261. 

Reformers  vindicated,  24,  20. 

Relics,  origin  of,  a  tnere  novelty,  99 ;  rare  spe- 
cimen of  them,  107,  281,  &c.;  worship  of 
them,  282  ;  farther  specimens,  very  curious, 
303;  the  ridiculous  fully  of  these  will  work 
the  final  ruin  of  popery,  302,  305. 

Religion,  contrast  between  the  true  and  the 
false,  292. 

Republicanism. — poperv's  essential  doctrines 
in  deadly  hostility  to  it,  195,  196.  308,  313, 
'.522  ;    proof  from   the  oatii   of  priest.s,   and 


borious  services  imposed  on  each  by  pa- 
pists, 106;  reported  miracleg  of,  109;  spe- 
cimen of  wicked  men  made  saints,  162; 
saint  wor.=hip  condemned  by  scripture  and 
the  fathers,  213,  214;  specimen  of  extraor- 
dinary saint  worship  279,  283  ;  farther  no- 
tice of  the  labours  and  services  of  these 
saints,  280. 

Sanctity  of  Romanism,  reviewed,  184. 

Scarlet  colored  Beast  &c.  notices  of,  330. 

Schisms  in  the  Romish  church,  view  of  the, 
162. 

Scriptures,  no  obscurity  in  them,  9,  13;  their 
authenticity  and  genuineness,  9,  10,  52.  53. 
their  inspiration,  proofs  of  it,  8,  9, 12,  18,  51, 
to  55  ;  confession  of  this  wrung  from  the 
priests,  17;  evidence  of  this,  ertfrnal  and  in- 
ternal, 51;  historical  evidence,  tradition,  52; 
no  inspired  books  lost,  53  ;  our  English  ver- 
sion the  priests  call  "  most  abominably  cor- 
rupt."  79;  Dr.  Curtis'  collection  of  errors, 
Dr.  Cardwell's  exposure,  79  and  89,90; 
Walton's  judgment  of  our  version  89 ; 
Selden's  89 ;  Geddes',  89  ;  keeping  them 
in  a  dead  language,  a  popish  novelty,  99; 
fathers  quoted,  99,  100;  priest's  renewed 
attack  on  them,  101,  102;  their  sophistry 
exposed,  103  ;  Scriptures  prohibited  by  the 
Roman  catholic  church,  135;  anecdote  of 
a  papist,  and  a  Bible,  181. 


bishops,  318;  its  present  conspiracy  againstjSelden,  his  judgment  of  our  version  of  the  BI- 
our  republic,  306,  308.  "'  |     ble,  89. 

Rcuchlin's  saying  of  the  Latin  version,  com- Servants,  priests' in^structions  to,  at  the  con- 
pared  with  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek, 


88. 


fanaticism, 


Rites   of  Romanism,  founded 
113. 

Rock,  text  of  the  ;  criticism  on  it ;  the  senti- 
ments of  the  fathers  on  it,  205,  207. 

Roman   catholics,   earnest  appeals  to  them, 
178,  182,  232,  241. 

Roman  church,  in  the  4th   century,  rejected 
the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  119. 

Roinisii  system,  or  popery,  is  the  perpetuation 
of  paganism,  204,  26^. 

Roscoe,  and  the  laconic  senate,  16. 

Rucellai's  jiidgmont  on  the  political  tendency 
of  the  bull  In  cima  Domini,  318,  319. 

Rule  of  faith.  7,  8.  9,   12,  16;  our  sentiments 


fessional,  129,  147. 
Society,  and  marriage  among  papists  thrown 
into  conl'usion  by  the  popish  doctrine  of  In- 
tention, 300. 
Spirit  of  God,  speaking  in  the  Bible,  the  only 
judge  of  controversies  in  doctrines,  3,  7.  8  ; 
the  priests"  perversion  on  this,   "the  interior 
spirit, "  '  •  our  private  spirit,'^  15,  23,  30  ;  they 
ahva3's  misquote  our  definitions,  54,  58. 
Spirits,  evil,  successfully  battled  by  Romish 

saints,  109. 
State  always  in  union,   with  the  chnrch.  iii 

Roman  catholic  lands,  314. 
St.  Sacrament  a  Romish  idol,  136;  farther  spe- 
cimens of  its  idolatrous  worship,  283. 
Statues  and  images  work  miracles,  110. 
on  this,   ahvavs  misquoted   by  papists,  23, [Succession,  apostolical,  of  the  papists  totally 
54;    the   church  of  God   had  always    the]     cut  ofT,  35,  33  ;  review  of  it,  159. 
same  rule   of  faith.   50;    no   books' of  thej Supererogation,  base  superstition  of"",  140. 
sacred  canon  lost,  61.  Superstition   of  popery,   135,    incense;  holy 

Rule  of  faith,  among   papists,  7,  17,  21,  31;!     water,  charms,  137;  condemned  by  reason 
their  rule  is  </jc  chnrch,  149;  their  errors  in      and  Scripture  274,  283. 
thic?  matter,  9.   10,11;  their  avowed  rule  alSupremacv.   papal,  four  sects  of  faith  in  th 
cumbrous  load.  21,  120;  thc'iv  infallible  rule \     Romish  "church  on   this   point,  19,20,124 
made  up  of  fallible  materials,  7.  11 ;  the  real 
origin  of  this  papal  dogma,  19;  refutation  of 
the  papal  rule   in  tni  arguments.  IP,  S2,  34. 
3H.  fll . 


Bellarmine's  ultra  views  of  it,  75,  83;  ori- 
gin of  it,  93  i&c.  resisted  by  councils  and 
the  fathers.  P3,  95:  jarring  elements  and 
fartions  m  Romft  on  it..  2'P4.  '297^ 


INOKX. 


Tax  Book  of  popery,  tarilVpiiccs  of  sin,  191 ; 
and  Appendix  ii. 

Temporal  power  of  the  pope,  124,  125,  anec- 
dote to  illustrate  it,  125,  126  ;  proof  of  this 
claim  by  the  popes,  308,  312,  322;  far- 
ther proof,  326. 

Tertullian,  on  the  rule  of  faith,  74,  223 ; 
against  papal  supremacy,  94;  on  succession, 
110;  on  images,  213;  transubstantiation, 
238;  the  mass,  246;    and  purgatory,  257. 

Testament,  the  new,  not  written,  say  the 
priests,  by  Christ's  command,  34.  j 

Textual  difficulties  solved,  65;  Mattlu  i.  Luke 
iii.,  Matth.  xxvii.,  and  cliap.  ii.23— 66,  67. 

Theodoret,  against  papal  supremacy,  94; 
against  saint  worshi]),  96;  on  the  succes- 
sion, 210 ;  against  transubstantiation,   238. 

Tortures  of  the  Inquisition,  337,  340. 

Tradition,  historical,  an  evidence  of  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  Bible,  18  ;  the  priests  reject  all 
liistorical  traditions,  except  simply  those  of 
their  own  sect,  31, 

Traditions,  papal,  their  fanaticism,  extrava- 
gance, and  impiety,  55,  56  ;  apostolical  tra- 
ditions, 68,  69  ;  the  priests'  vicious  circle  on 
them,  120. 

Traffic  with  heretics  forbidden  by  the  Man  of 
Sin,  335. 

Translations,  the  priests'  ludicrous  assaults 
on  them,  14. 

Transubstantiation,  a  novel  invention,  98; 
refutation  from  Scripture  and  the  fathers, 
233  ;  the  papists  sustain  their  doctrine  by 
one  of  the  absurdities  of  Aristotle,  235;  it 
brutalizes  a  man;  it  compels  its  believers 
to  disbelieve  the  evidence  of  their  senses, 
235  ;  a  believer  in  it  can  never  he  a  witness 
in  any  case,  235  ;  condemned  by  eighteen 
of  the  fathers,  and  the  eastern  lituriiics,  i 
237,  241.  ^       I 

Treachery,  a  grand  attribute  of  popery,    325.1 

Trinity,  representation  of,  in  the  popish  idol-l 
atrv.  106.  | 

U 

Unanimous  consent  of  the  fathers,  the  popish 
system  destitute  of  the,  72,  75,  209, 216,  217. 

Union  of  church  and  state,  characteristic  of 
popery,  314. 

Unitarians  at  one  witli. papists  on  an  essential 
point,  235. 

Unity  claimed  by  Roman  catliolics,  no  such 
thing  among  the iipi,  5,  6;  cause  of  their  ap- 
parent unity,  5 ;  the  only  kind  of  union 
among  them,  6;  review  of  their  afTected 
^  unity,  200,  220. 

Usher,  a  goodcadvice  of  his  to  popish  priests, 
relative  to  pargatory.  260. 


Varela,  Dr.  retreats,  yet,  Parlhian-Iike,  keeps 
up  a  retreating  fire,  12  ;  his  daring  attack 
on  the  only  rule  of  faith,  the  Scriptures,  12, 
16  ;  reply  to  his  Letters,  80 ;  specimen  of 
his  misquotations,  82  ;  ludicrous  blunder  of 
his  about  "  ordinances,"'  83. 

Vicars  of  God,  three  perjured  ones,  in  Holy 
?.Iother,  at  once,  166. 

Vicious  circle, — this  false  logic  employed  by 
papists,  58,  120,  121  ;  they  deny  it,  yet  use 
it,  at  the  same  time,  64  ;  they  employ  it  on 
traditions,  120 ;  and  on  their  infallibilitv, 
121. 

Virgin  Mary,  specimen  of  her  worship,  ren- 
dered by  papists,  96,  97  ;  this  idolatry  con- 
demned by  Scripture,  and  the  fathers,  217, 
218  ;  she  is  the  great  goddess,  the  Diana  of 
the  Romans, — farther  specimens  of  pi-oof. 
281. 

Virgin  Magdalen,  popish  miracle  by  her,  107. 

Vulgate,  one  of  the  worst  translations  of  the 
Bible,  14  ;  N.  Y.  priests'  defence  of  it,  65; 
exposure  of  it,  69;  Clementine  and  Sextine 
editions  of  it,  70,  71,  88 ;  Jerome's  saying 
of  the  Latin  version,  88  ;  there  is  no  antlwr- 
ised  version  of  the  Bible  in  English,  by  the 
Roman  church,  88. 


V/ 


Waldenses  vindicated  from  the  atrocious  slan- 
der of  N.  Y.  priests,  26,  27  ;  testimony  in 
their  favor,  by  two  inquisitors,  and  a  pope, 
27,28;  their  terrible  sufferings  and  massa- 
cres by  papists,  345,  346. 

Walton,  quoted  by  the  priests  as  favoring 
their  Vulgate,  65  ;  this  is  not  correct,  89. 

Wars  in  Europe  for  ages,  caused,  mainly,  by 
popery,  166,  204. 

Wax  candles,  lamps, — origin  of,  among  pa- 
pists, 138. 

Wenefride,  St.,  three  popisli  miracles  in  her 
life,  108. 

Weslev,  John,  vindicated  from  the  wanton 
charges  of  N.  Y.  priests,  23,  &c. 

White  slaves,  Roman  catholic  lands,  the  coun- 
try of,  330. 


Xavier,  St.,  popish  miracles  in  his  life,  109. 

Y 

York,  the  cardinal  duke  of,  referred  to ;  the 
book  containing  an  account  of  a  synod  held 
by  him,  gives  the  lie  to  bishop  England's 
statement.  De  Bulla,  In  cmna  Domini,  316. 


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